A large vegetation fire in Waikato is “now under control”, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said in an update this evening.
The fire, which has been burning for three days, is located near Meremere, which includes the Whangamarino wetlands.
In an update this evening, incident controller Mark Tinworth said Fire and Emergncy “was able to stand down its air operations around 5pm with the fire now contained and controlled”.
“This is a significant milestone for us as we do not expect the fire to grow any larger in size,” he said.
“We will have drones operating overnight to keep an eye out for reignition of the fire and to identify and monitor hotspots and flareups.
“We will continue to have a presence at the site tomorrow as this fire will take some time to fully extinguish due to where it is burning in peat and wetland.”
The fire remains at 1024 hectares with a 15-kilometre perimeter.
‘Hard work for our crews’
Earlier this afternoon, Fire and Emergency said the blaze “has not grown significantly in size during the day”.
Tinworth thanked the crews for their efforts as they work to establish and strengthen containment lines around the fire.
“The aircraft have been doing great work to slow the spread of the fire while the ground crews have been getting that containment line in so we can get this fire stopped in its tracks,” he said.
“It’s hard work for our crews, and I want to thank them for all their efforts throughout the day.”
‘Large amount of smoke’
Despite the efforts of firefighters, the blaze has raged for three days at Whangamarino, near Meremere. (Source: 1News)
Tinworth also acknowledged that “there is some anxiety out there about this fire, particularly with the large amount of smoke in the area”.
He reassured the community that “we have your safety as our top priority”.
“While we don’t expect anyone to be in any danger during this incident, we will let you know if there is any danger to you or your property well ahead of time.”
Tinworth added that Fire and Emergency services have received “a number of questions” around its potential risk to the community and businesses in the area.
“Fire and Emergency have been working to establish and maintain communication and guidance with all involved.”
He reminded residents living within the vicinity of the smoke to “keep windows and doors closed, and to avoid the area altogether if possible”.
Drone pauses aerial firefighting efforts
A drone spotted nearby briefly stopped firefighting efforts in the air this afternoon.
“A mid-air collision between a drone and a helicopter could have fatal consequences,” Tinworth said.
Tinworth reminded members of the public not to fly drones “anywhere near the fireground”.
“This impacted our ability to fight this fire as air operations have been our main avenue for suppression of the fire.”
The drone was quickly grounded and air operations were able to resume after a break of around 10 minutes, he said.
Blaze could take ‘some days’ to control
Tinworth said the fire is “large” and it could still take “some days to bring it under control properly”.
“Peat fires are particularly challenging, as they can continue to burn underground and can be hard to find and extinguish.”
More than 50 personnel are involved in the firefighting operation, supported by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Fire investigators are on the scene, but have yet to confirm a cause at this time.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it could take some days to bring the fire under control properly. (Source: 1News)
Yesterday, the Department of Conservation told 1News the Whangamarino wetland is an “extensive mosaic of swamps, fens, bogs and open water around the Whangamarino and Maramarua rivers”.
It is the second largest freshwater wetland in the North Island and is home to a range of native birds, fish and plants.
