Smoke haze settles over Newcastle as bushfire burns

Firefighters were called to the Fishermans Bay Road area just before 3.30pm on Monday after reports of a blaze had sparked.

Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews were on the ground and controlling the blaze about 5.30pm, a spokesperson confirmed.

The fire had burned through about three-and-a-half hectares of bushland in two hours.

The RFS spokesperson said no properties were under direct threat at that time but crews were preparing in case the situation escalated.

The fire was burning south of Fishermans Bay Road and east of Morna Point Road on Monday afternoon.

If you are in the area, monitor conditions. If you don't need to be in the area, please avoid it.

The fire was brought under control at about 9pm on Monday and remained at Advice alert level on Tuesday morning.

The RFS spokesperson said the bushfire was producing a significant amount of smoke which the wind was pushing south west, towards Newcastle.

Residents as far as Lake Macquarie reported seeing haze and smelling bushfire smoke.

The RFS spokesperson assured the community firefighters were working hard to contain the bushfire and urged people to only call triple zero if they noticed another, separate unattended fire.