Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews are continuing to battle a large vegetation fire in scrub and wetlands near Meremere in North Waikato.
Incident Commander Mark Tinworth says the fire now has a perimeter of 10 kilometres, and has burned through around 477 hectares in the Island Block area, including the Whangamarino wetlands.
“It’s continuing to spread through the wetlands, but it’s not threatening any residential or commercial properties at present,” he said.
“Island Block Road is now closed to all except for emergency vehicles and residents, so we urge people to avoid the area if they can.
“There’s a lot of smoke coming off the burning areas, and we advise people to keep car doors and windows shut if they have to drive near the area.”
The Whangamarino wetland is a Department of Conservation area of environmental significance. Fire and Emergency is working collaboratively with the Department of Conservation and mana whenua to ensure cultural and environmental values are considered in firefighter tactics.
“We’re working really hard to contain it as quickly as possible, but we are expecting it to take another day or so to bring it under control,” Mark Tinworth said. “This is a really beautiful part of the country with considerable environmental value, and we’re doing our best to prevent it from being destroyed.”
Fire and Emergency is also working alongside local businesses to make sure they have plans in place for removing any dangerous material if the fire gets too close to those locations.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand was alerted to the fire off Island Block Road around 1.15pm on Monday, and fire crews are being supported by eight helicopters, two fixed-wing aircraft, and around 40 personnel.
Water for the fire trucks and helicopter buckets was temporarily sourced from the local reticulated supply, but is now being sourced from a pond on a local farm.
Fire investigators are at the site today and the origin and cause of the fire are yet to be confirmed.
