Firefighters will be back in the hills above the Lower Hutt suburb of Naenae this morning, damping down hot spots left by a scrub fire that came close to houses yesterday.
At its peak, 11 crews and two helicopters with monsoon buckets were working to put out the fire, which burnt through two-hectares of the Eastern Hills reserve.
The fire came within 20 metres of some houses, and several were evacuated, but no property was damaged and nobody was injured.
At one point yesterday a drone being flown near the fire forced Fire and Emergency to suspend aerial operations.
Incident Controller Jason Hill said helicopters fighting the fire cannot fly with drones in the air.
"We have had to suspend the aerial attack while the drone is in the air to ensure the safety of our pilots and crews," he yesterday said in a statement.
Fire and Emergency says all crews were stood down overnight but officers will be back at 7.30am today to resume damping-down.
