A huge hill fire raged for hours in the Pat Sin Leng mountain range in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Monday evening, sending thick smoke into the sky and at one point stretching more than 80 metres.

Police said they received multiple reports of a hill fire near the Green Cove luxury residential estate along Ting Kok Road at around 7.50pm on Monday.

By 10pm, the blaze had escalated into three lines each measuring 45 metres. They had combined and formed a single fire line stretching a distance of more than 80 metres by around 11pm.

Firefighters using beaters and knapsack pumps put out the blaze. Two fire engines and scores of firefighters remained on standby at Lai Pek Shan in the district.

The blaze was fierce at a time when the Hong Kong Observatory said the city was under the influence of a fresh to strong northeast monsoon.