Fire and Emergency crews in Tongariro National Park will be back at the scene of wildfires, hoping for more rain to keep hotspots damp. Favourable conditions on Monday meant the fire appeared to be extinguished.
Thermal imaging drones were expected to be used overnight to check for hotspots after fires that had turned more than 2800 hectares of land to ash.
MetService forecasts rain clearing in region from early Tuesday morning and then fine, aside from isolated showers. Incident Controller Nigel Dravitzki told Checkpoint the favourable conditions had helped reduce the fire, but there was still a lot of work to be done.
Thermal imaging drones were expected to be used overnight to check for hotspots after fires that had turned more than 2800 hectares of land to ash.
MetService forecasts rain clearing in region from early Tuesday morning and then fine, aside from isolated showers. Incident Controller Nigel Dravitzki told Checkpoint the favourable conditions had helped reduce the fire, but there was still a lot of work to be done.
"Visibility it looks out, but we are doing thermal imaging and drones over it tonight to see if we can pick up any activity or hots spots we can't see." He said this type of fire would require walking the perimeter edge and digging up hot spots to confirm there was no fire activity. "It is tough grunt work," he said. Next steps were working on how to manage the situation going forward, he said.
Fire and Emergency NZ have shared new photos of the Tongariro fire. "Our people continue to work tirelessly alongside our partner agencies battling the Tongariro wildfire," a spokesperson said. Though the cause of the fire was yet to be determined, "this fire shows the devastating speed, aggression and destruction fire has on our whenua," they added.
Meanwhile, an iwi representative said the rāhui over the scene will give the whenua time to breathe. Two rāhui have been put in place, covering the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track and any burnt areas.
Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro representative Te Ngaehe Wanikau said: "The restoration is not about excluding, it's not prohibiting. "Wanikau said the restorative rāhui was not in the usual sense of rāhui, which happens after a tragedy. A restorative rāhui was about focusing on bringing the area back to what it should be, he said. The "greatest" fear was the burnt area going into the "too hard basket and then we see yellow flowers of broom all over our mountain."
The rāhui was an opportunity for "everyone and anyone" to focus on making it a restorative project that showed what the area could look like if the problem was dealt with. He said they would work with agencies to determine the extent of the damage.
Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro representative Te Ngaehe Wanikau said: "The restoration is not about excluding, it's not prohibiting. "Wanikau said the restorative rāhui was not in the usual sense of rāhui, which happens after a tragedy. A restorative rāhui was about focusing on bringing the area back to what it should be, he said. The "greatest" fear was the burnt area going into the "too hard basket and then we see yellow flowers of broom all over our mountain."
The rāhui was an opportunity for "everyone and anyone" to focus on making it a restorative project that showed what the area could look like if the problem was dealt with. He said they would work with agencies to determine the extent of the damage.
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