Firefighters in North dampen down 100ha blaze

Firefighters in Northland were last night dampening down hot spots from a large scrub fire which started on Thursday.

Five helicopters and 10 fire appliances were used to fight the blaze at Kaimaumau, which burned more than 100ha. At one stage smoke from the fire could be seen more than 20km away.

Far North principal rural fire officer Lance Johnston said the fire had got into peat bogs and crews would need to monitor it for up to three weeks - a huge drain on resources.

Under the Forest and Rural Fire Act anyone found guilty of lighting a fire without a permit could face a maximum fine of $2000 or six months' jail.

Mr Johnston said he had two prosecutions pending against people who were believed to have started fires during the present fire ban, but he had been too busy to issue them with the court action.

That would be done as soon as the pressure went off having to constantly fight fires, he said.

Firefighters also tackled a large bush blaze on Pouto Peninsula within 12 hours of the fire at Kaimaumau.

It is uncertain how the fire started in the forestry block near Rototuna, 42km southeast of Dargaville. Three helicopters dumped monsoon buckets of water over 2ha of burning debris as 30 firefighters gathered on the ground.

The shift manager at the Fire Service communications centre in Auckland, Tania Matthews, said the region was tinder-dry and people needed to be extremely careful and act quickly if they saw smoke.

A carelessly discarded match or cigarette butt could have disastrous consequences, she said.

Firefighters in Northland are urging people to observe the fire ban as they struggle to cope with hundreds of callouts to scrub blazes since the start of the year.

The Northern Advocate reported that Far North firefighters had been called out to fight 132 scrub or vegetation fires since January 1.

- NZPA