"Fire and Emergency New Zealand was alerted to a forest fire on Matakana Island near Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty at 7.36pm this evening.

We have several crews in attendance at the fire in a forestry block in south Matakana," says Fire and Emergency Shift Manager Garreth Lewis.

"The fire is approximately 300 metres by 300 metres and its very visible from the mainland," he says.

"Fire crews will remain on scene overnight to monitor the fire and we ask people to stay away from the area.

" We have multiple crews that will respond to the fire tomorrow morning by barge and a helicopter on scene at first light."

There will be a further update at around 9 am tomorrow morning.

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