Strong winds are fanning multiple scrub fires across the North Island, stretching fire crews to their limit.

At 5.35pm on Sunday, Central Fire Communications shift manager Jan Wills said it had been a frantic day for fire fighters, dealing with fires in Feilding, Napier, Havelock North and Gisborne.

Fire crews were battling scrub fires in the Raukawa Rd area, southwest of Hastings, and at Dartmoor Rd, and at Dartmoor Rd, near Puketapu, west of Napier.

Crews from neighbouring regions had been called in to deal with the fires in Napier and Havelock North.

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A Hastings Fire Service spokesman said all appliances in the region, including from small volunteer stations, had been deployed, and more appliances were on their way from Palmerston North.

In Havelock North, a man pulled out his garden hose to dampen down a scrub fire that was dangerously close to a nearby home.

The fire, fanned by strong winds buffeting Hawke's Bay, engulfed two large gum trees and destroyed a fence bordering the property on Endsleigh Rd.

Fire crews were able to bring the fire under control before it reached the house.

Neighbour Robyn McLean said the trunks of the two large gum trees were extensively damaged and would have to be felled.

Strong winds battering Hawke's Bay kept all of the region's emergency services busy on Sunday.

Felled powerlines reportedly started another scrub fire in the region, while blustery conditions were also the suspected cause of a truck crash on the Napier-Taupo highway.

The New Zealand Transport Agency urged drivers to take care on the road.