Properties evacuated

Kaitaia: Four properties were evacuated in Northland yesterday after a fire chewed through 10ha of bush.

It came as emergency crews scrambled to fight three separate blazes in the South Island.

Police said four homes were evacuated in Ahipara, where a bush fire had been raging near Ngakaroa Rd since about 12.45pm yesterday.

Three houses nearby were evacuated, more as a precaution.

Nobody was believed to have been harmed in the fire, the Northern Advocate reported.