Firefighters worked in the early hours of this morning to tackle a significant blaze on the side of the Northwestern motorway in Auckland.
Emergency crews responded to the fire at about midnight.
The motorway was temporarily closed near Newton Rd overnight. The over bridge was also closed.
Fire and Emergency (FENZ) assistant commander Barry Fox said this morning: "Our crews responded to smoke and scrub on fire on the side of the motorway on the Northwestern motorway under the Newton over bridge.
"The fire was well established in that area of bush and we've had fire transfer up into the service ducts that feed under the Newton Rd over bridge – so it's been quite a challenging fire."
Fox said a large amount of smoke had "filled" the surrounding area.
"We've received multiple calls to smoke in buildings in this vicinity due to this fire.
"The fire has been extinguished now," he said.
Civil engineers were inspecting the bridge to gauge the damage, he added.
And "it was quite awkward" for crews trying to tackle the blaze.
"We've had people working on top of the bridge firing water through gaps in the road, in the bridge structure – and also fighting the fire from underneath, from down on the lower motorway," Fox said.
Eight fire trucks and "quite a lot of staff" responded, with firefighters in breathing apparatus.
Police officers could also be seen at the scene, putting cordons in place.
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