Papakura scrub fire sends smoke over Southern Motorway as traffic backs up

Résumé détaillé

Thick smoke from a vegetation fire is billowing over Auckland’s Southern Motorway this evening, as traffic backs up along the busy route. Fire and Emergency New Zealand was called…

Thick smoke rises above trees beside Auckland's Southern Motorway as firefighters battle a vegetation fire near Papakura.

Thick smoke from a vegetation fire is billowing over Auckland’s Southern Motorway this evening, as traffic backs up along the busy route.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand was called to the blaze in Papakura about 4.38pm.

A shift manager told the Herald that two fire engines and a tanker were dispatched following reports of a scrub fire.

Crews arrived to find vegetation burning beside the motorway and were working to extinguish the blaze. The size of the fire was not yet known.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said one northbound lane had been closed because of the fire.

In an update at 5.20pm, NZTA said traffic queues stretched back to the Park Estate Rd overbridge.

A photograph sent in by a Herald reader shows a large plume of smoke rising above trees near the motorway.

A Herald reporter driving through the area said thick smoke was blanketing the motorway, creating a dense haze that significantly reduced visibility, with traffic backed up for up to 2km.

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