Kaimaumau township and farmhouses may now be at risk if a large fire in the area is not held. Department of Conservation firefighters from as far away as the East Coast and Wanganui are expected to join the battle to contain the fire, 30 minutes north of Kaitaia. The blaze beganon private land last Wednesday and has burrowed into the peat soil, burning underground, creating hotspots and requiring a substantial amount of manpower to keep it contained. Incident controller John Maxwell warns that the progress of the blaze could put the township of Kaimaumau and nearby farmhouses at risk. Sixty-three people in ground crews and 12 incident control personnel are working on the site of the fire. The current team is made up of Doc firefighters from Auckland and Waikato supporting Doc Northland teams, some of whom have been firefighting for six days. Crews from the New Zealand Fire Authority, Rural Fire Authority and Forest Protection Services are assisting the Department of Conservation, Mr Maxwell said. "This is a major operation, as the fire is dampened down on the surface, but is still burning strongly underground, meaning strong winds could stir it up into flames, igniting the canopy of scrub. "With the dry conditions, and the risk of the fire flaring up, we are maintaining the current level of ground crews for at least another six days. "But without any rain forecast it could be weeks before the fire is completely out." Peat fires are risky for firefighters, as what can appear solid ground can be merely a crust of soil and vegetation over an intensely hot gum hole. However, the level of health and safety shown by crews had been excellent and there were no injuries despite having more than 400 firefighters working at the fire site to date, Mr Maxwell said. Doc spokeswoman Carolyn Smith said the conservation cost of fires was not restricted to loss of habitat or individuals in a species but also to a loss of staff time. This fire season, the Department of Conservation in Kaitaia has had six fires since January.
