Massive Pōrangahau fire largely contained after spreading to pines planned for Ikea furniture

Smoke billowing from a fire in a pine tree block in Pōrangahau, as photographed from Pōrangahau village on Tuesday. (Image: NZME)

Staff reporters

Wed, 22 Oct 2025

A 245-hectare fire burning its way through forest near Pōrangahau, Central Hawke’s Bay, is likely to continue to cause firefighters headaches over the next week. Ingka Investments Management New Zealand operations manager Dylan Foster said roughly 80 hectares of their 550-hectare pine plantation near Pōrangahau had caught fire.“We have got a big chunk of forest in there, but there are other forests neighbouring as well, so we are confident it is not just us at this stage, and other people have been affected.”Ingka Group is one...

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