UPDATE @ 6.00AM, Friday, January 9 | Firefighters have spent the night battling a blaze in the Pine Ridge Conservation Park at Coombabah that saw plumes of thick smoke spread over parts of the northern Gold Coast.
The fire broke out near the corner of Oxley Drive and Hansford Rd around 12.30pm on Thursday and continued to burn into the night.
The blaze spread further throughout the afternoon and evening, burning out around 70 hectares.
Over a dozen crews from the Queensland Fire Department and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service were on hand to fight the fire and conduct backburning during the night.
The blaze has not been threatening any properties however, a smoke advice remains in place for suburbs including Coombabah, Paradise Point, Runaway Bay and Pacific Pines.
Police were also called in around 8.30pm for crowd control, after a large number of people gathered near the scene to catch a glimpse.
The community is being urged to stay away from the area, while authorities also issued warnings to people not to fly drones over the fire after some incidents overnight.
Fire crews are expected to remain on scene over the next few days to assist QPWS rangers and monitor conditions.
The cause of the blaze is not known, but it is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.
*This story has been updated
