A burning tree blocking the road sparked some classic Kiwi ingenuity when locals grabbed shovels and water bottles to clear it in 10 minutes.

The tree fell on to a powerline on Welcome Bay Rd near the Kairua Rd turnoff at about midday yesterday.

Truck driver Jethro Cooke arrived to find it smoking and on fire.

“I kind of got there once the fire was kicking off, so quite exciting for a truck driver,” he told SunLive.

Cooke and several nearby residents quickly jumped in to help, with Cooke using shovels and water bottles to put out the flames.

A couple of others then arrived with chainsaws and cut the tree into smaller pieces.

“We all dragged it off just on the side of the road and sort of had the road back open in about 10 minutes.”

Cooke said the tree appeared to have been dead, and its fall would have been a “freak accident”.

He had been driving along Welcome Bay Rd all week and said the unexpected roadside effort was a welcome change from the routine.

“It was a nice little break from the bloody routine.”

Powerco said about 240 customers lost power for around 30 minutes after a tree hit a power line on Welcome Bay Rd at midday.

The company reminded people that all fallen power lines should be treated as live.

“Keep yourself, other people, and animals at least 10m away from the line and call either 111 or Powerco’s emergency line, 0800 27 27 27.”