Bush fires threaten endangered species

Some of the country's most endangered species may have been wiped out in a fiery environmental "holocaust" that has ripped through bush just south of Cape Reinga.

The blaze, which began on Friday when a BMW car driven by tourists crashed down a bank and caught fire, wiped out 230ha of dry bush and scrub - home to some of the world's rarest plants and invertebrates.

It led to the evacuation of 36 campers from campgrounds and tourists from Cape Reinga. The road north of Waitaki Landing was closed for 24 hours while the fire was being fought.

Rare orchids, giant snails and a species of gecko were in the area that was destroyed in the blaze, which took firefighters more than a day to put out.

Some of the species appear nowhere else in the world. One valley contains the world's last 31 Bartlett's rata trees.

Andrea Booth, recovery group leader for the endangered species, said news of the fire caused extreme concern among those working to save them.

"They're already so threatened. We're already trying to deal with so many things. This is another one - and it's a really big one."

Ms Booth is also responsible for recovery efforts for the flax snail. One sub-species where the fire broke out had only 30 members left. "They can't get away from a fire."

Also in danger were rare sun orchids, believed to be growing in the area where the blaze struck.

While the fire has proved an ecological disaster, it could have been worse.

About 70 people fought the fire over two days until it burned out yesterday afternoon after jumping the road to farmland. Five helicopters with monsoon buckets doused the fire while two bulldozers and a digger built firebreaks. Many of those who fought the fire, including Justin Blaikie, 28, of Kerikeri, had spent days fighting another scrub fire at Kaimaumau.

Mr Blaikie was last night heading home for the first time in five days. "We were just working nonstop. Pretty much a 17-hour day."

An ecologist for DoC, Mr Blaikie found the damage to the bush shocking. "Te Paki was like a holocaust. There was no life up there. The gods were kind in that it wasn't blowing a westerly or it would have been thousands of hectares instead of hundreds.

"You can't give up. You can't just turn your back on fire because the damage and the cost will just escalate. That's why it's so demanding. You've got to keep going until the last wisp of smoke is gone."