Ahipara residents allowed to return home as firefighters work to dampen hot spots following blaze

December 31, 2020

Residents in Northland's Ahipara have been allowed to return to their homes today as firefighters continue to dampen hot spots in the aftermath of a large scrub fire.

Up to 60 firefighters and several helicopters were brought in to contain the blaze as the flames ripped through 56 hectares of land around the Ahipara Gumfields on Tuesday. Residents of around 100 homes had to evacuate their homes.

Footage supplied to 1 NEWS shows what crews are tackling in Northland.

Incident Controller Rory Renwick said today in a Facebook video that Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews are working in "some very steep terrain," with firefighters often having to cut tracks to reach the hot spots.

"You might see some hot spots or some smoke in the fire ground, and what we're worried about is the ones that are on the perimeter, the ones around those perimeters or edges are the ones that can get away into unburnt areas and cause the fire to spread."

John Carter says the fire at the Northland settlement spread rapidly overnight and looked out of control.

He said crews will be working on dampening down hot spots for the next few days.

"It's looking pretty positive at the moment, but there is a lot of work to do - a big perimeter with lots of hot spots."

Fire investigators are on site to determine the cause of the blaze.

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