Firefighters fly to help battle Southern Alps blaze

Whangarei firefighters ready to board their flight. Photo / John Stone

Ten firefighters from Whangarei have joined forces to battle a massive scrub blaze near Arthur's Pass in the South Island.

The employees of Forest Protection Services were asked to help by the New Zealand Rural Fire Authority at 12.30pm yesterday and they collected their firefighting and personal gear in time for the 5.30pm flight out of Whangarei.

Forest Protection Services owner Kevin Ihaka said his staff would join five fire crews from throughout the country.

The Whangarei firefighters were expected to arrive in Christchurch last night from where they were to have picked up their vehicles.

"The agreement we work under requires us to get our crews ready within four hours after receiving notification, so we had to gather everyone from their workplaces," Mr Ihaka said.

He said at this stage, his firefighters would be in Canterbury for between five and seven days but that could change depending on the severity of the blaze.

The team will be led by experienced firefighter Mike Sullivan.

Others in the group include his sons Nathan and Kieran, Kira Kemp, Nicky Robinson, Martin Marshall, Jason Paraha, Ben Ferguson from Alaska, Mexican Feliciano Perez, and Canadian Morgan Reilly, who is the only female in the team.

Mr Ihaka said his firefighters have this year fought fires at Cornwallis in west Auckland and twice at Pouto near Dargaville.

Ten helicopters were yesterday battling the fire in the Flock Hill station in the Craigieburn Forest Park that started about 2.30pm on Monday and quickly spread to almost 500 hectares near State Highway 73.

Stock had been removed from the station overnight and an evacuation plan was in place for the nearby settlement of Castle Hill Village.

The fire could pose a major threat to native species.