Waipara fire update #2

2 September 2024

Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews are continuing to respond to a fire burning in a forestry block north of Waipara, North Canterbury.

Incident Commander Des Irving says following the use of drone mapping overnight, crews were able to determine the fire is now 85 hectares in size.

"The fire is still burning through trees within the forestry block and we had crews on the ground monitoring the fire overnight," says Des Irving.

"We will have multiple crews on site today working on reestablishing containment lines. They will be supported by heavy machinery and five helicopters.

"We are expecting strong winds this afternoon which could prove difficult conditions for firefighting, and we could see extreme fire behaviour at times," says Des Irving.

"With more warm and windy weather forecast for today we are asking people across Canterbury to not light any fires and to check old burn piles are fully extinguished."

Des Irving once again thanked the wider Hurunui community for its help and support.

"A special shout out to the Waipara Civil Defence Emergency Response team who cooked breakfast this morning for our firefighters who have been working hard to get the fire contained and under control."

Crews are expected to remain at the fire ground for the rest of the week.