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This bushfire at Tangahoe on the Whanganui River was reported on February 20
A falling meteor may have caused the spate of unexplained fires in Wanganui forest and bush.
Eight fires in sometimes very remote places have Department of Conservation staff investigating whether the meteor which flashed across the New Zealand sky on the evening of February 11 was to blame.
DoC Whanganui services manager George Taylor said in some cases trees were burned right down to stumps, which was unusual.
Fires at Parinui and Tangahoe were among those fought near the Whanganui River last month. The three latest fires, reported on March 3, were even more remote - one was 5km from the river and the other two were west at Matemateaonga.
Kelly O'Neill farms at Pipiriki and DoC have been using his property to land firefighting helicopters.
He talked to DoC staff there who were pretty convinced the falling meteor of February 11 caused at least some of the fires.
Mr O'Neill saw the meteor himself, around 10pm that night.
"It made a massive big flash in the sky - it was there for about a second, and headed over in that direction."
The meteor was a very bright type called a fireball, said David Britten, the astronomy educator at Auckland's Stardome.
It was probably the size of a football or two and travelling south to north across the country. It could have been debris from an asteroid, comet, moon or planet.
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