Drone crews will monitor a large vegetation fire in Waikato overnight, as residents have been warned not to be alarmed if they see flames or smoke.
The fire, now in its fourth day, is located near Meremere, which includes the Whangamarino wetlands.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident controller Mark Tinworth said drone crews will be working overnight to identify and monitor hot spots.
Ground crews and air operations would continue their efforts to extinguish them tomorrow.
Meanwhile, mapping of the fireground was ongoing and “may result in a further refinement of the fire size”.
The size of the fire was currently estimated at 1039 hectares with a 19km perimeter.
“Due to the nature of this fire and where it is burning, it will take some time to extinguish it completely,” Tinworth said.
“Although the fire is still under control, there may still be some visible fire activity from the fireground and smoke in the area, don’t be alarmed.
“At this stage, ash and debris has been confined to the fireground.”
Cordons will be in place on Island Block Rd and Falls Rd between 8am and 6pm for residents’ access only.
Investigations to determine cause
In an update earlier this morning, Fire and Emergency said the fire remains contained and that several hot spots were identified overnight.
“We are using air operations to dampen these hot spots down,” Tinworth said.
The fire was contained and “controlled” at around 5pm yesterday.
A number of roads were closed in the area this morning, including Island Block Rd from State Highway 1 to the Falls Rd intersection, and Falls Rd and the Bridge on Falls Rd.
Two fire investigators are on the ground this morning and are working to determine the cause of the blaze.
“It is too early to give an indication of cause,” Tinworth said.
He asked people near the fire to contact the Environmental Health Officer for advice before using food, feed or water from storage tanks for drinking “as these may have been impacted by smoke and ash from the fire”.
“We acknowledge people will be impacted by this fire and have worked hard to limit those impacts.
“Our crews gave it their all to bring this fire under control as quickly as they did, and I want to thank them for that.”
