Firefighters continue to work on the perimeter of the Great
Barrier Island fire which flared up overnight but stayed
within containment lines.
The blaze has burned across 112ha, with ground crew and
thermal imagery used to identify hotspots.
Additional fire crews have been recruited from Rotorua and
Nelson to relieve exhausted Auckland crews.
"The fire is contained but not out and there's still a lot of
work to be done," said National Rural Fire Officer Murray
Dudfield.
Weather conditions are favourable for this ground-based
operation today, but increased winds are expected tomorrow
and on Saturday making further work to strengthen containment
lines a top priority, said an Auckland Council statement.
No properties have been damaged and residents who were
evacuated from the Okupu Ridge area have returned to their
properties.
Additional supplies were shipped to the island overnight.
Operations at Claris Airport have been affected but Okiwi
airfield is still operational and extra support staff are
being sent in.
An independent fire investigator will be on site today to
help establish the cause of the fire.
Mr Dudfield said it was a similar situation with a large fire
on the Pouto Peninsula in Northland, which covered about
200ha.
Firefighters had contained the blaze but were attempting to
completely extinguish it today.
There were four large scrub fires in different parts of New
Zealand yesterday.
"Soil moisture levels are below normal so when you do get a
fire there's a lot of work to be done to saturate the fuel
and soil with water," Mr Dudfield said.
"The last three summers have been quite quiet for us and this
is going back to what we used to get about five years ago."
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