Matakana Island fire: Five helicopters and five crews fight fire for eighth day

Helicopters still battling the fire at Matakana Island days after it broke out. Photo / George Novak

Five helicopters and five rural firefighter crews are still fighting the fire on Matakana Island today, eight days after it started.

Those fighting the fire are being praised by a former resident of the island who said the blaze had been "devastating" to watch.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said the extent of the damage, and how long they would need to stay on the island, was unknown.

Homes were not currently at risk and the fire had been all forestry.

Today rural firefighters from Te Puke, Lake Okareka, and Okere Falls were on the island which was "still on fire".

MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said it would be more humid with a few showers tomorrow but there would also be moderate winds in the morning.

The winds will pick up again on Wednesday and Christmas Eve will be a wet day which might offer some relief with an estimated 20mm to 30mm of rain.

On Saturday, smoke was seen billowing after the fire jumped a fire break causing it to resurge. The fire initially started on December 13.

Smoke was seen from around the city, with an Otumoetai resident reporting fine ash falling on his Grange Rd property.

On Sunday, two helicopters, three ground crews and two bulldozers were involved in the efforts.

Helicopters still battling the fire at Matakana Island days after it broke out. Photo / George Novak

Tauranga resident Rachael Garrett grew up on the island and said watching it burn was "devastating" and a "shock".

Garrett was on the island the day before the initial blaze with her in-laws who she had taken for a drive down the beach and she had mentioned that in all her years there had never been a fire.

"The very next day we had a fire, and that was devastating. I couldn't believe it."

On the Saturday the blaze reignited, and she headed out on the water and looked at where the fire had been the week prior and said there was no smoke.

"From the time it took for me to get from that side of the island, back up Hunter's Creek, all of a sudden there was a whole lot of smoke."

Within 40 minutes, the helicopters had arrived.

"I just found them absolutely amazing ... they were constantly going."

Matakana Island is also the home of the Department of Conservation's dotterel breeding programme.

The dotterel is an endangered small shorebird found only in New Zealand, with only 2500 birds left.

The programme was initially set up in 1992, and has led to more than 300 successfully fledged chicks over that time.

The relative isolation of the island's beaches is a key element in the successful breeding, making it one the country's top breeding sites.