Chatham Islands fire now contained after burning through 3000ha of land and causing evacuations

Images taken from a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules show the scale of a bush fire on the Chatham Islands. Photo / New Zealand Defence Force

The Chatham Islands fire that has ripped through 3000ha of land since Thursday has been contained.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand confirmed the fire was in hand at 4.47pm on Tuesday.

Chatham Islands fire has been contained. Hard work in the air & on the ground continues.https://t.co/ctIPgDTpbg via @YouTube

— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) February 6, 2018

Principal Rural Fire Officer Craig Cottrill said on Monday it could take two weeks before it was fully extinguished.

Helicopters with monsoon buckets started work on Monday to douse the fire.

He said it was expected that that level of firefighting activity would continue for a further seven to 12 days.

On Friday residents from 19 houses on the island were evacuated because of a possible wind change.

They returned to their homes on Saturday.

Chathams fire update: We're assisting @FireEmergencyNZ to secure the boundary of the fire, about 1 km from conservation land. Currently the risk to conservation land is not considered significant. (📹@NZDefenceForce) pic.twitter.com/vjDCqVqzjD

— Te Papa Atawhai (@docgovtnz) February 4, 2018

The blaze, south of Waitangi Wharf on the main island, was sparked early on Thursday morning.

On Friday, the Defence Force sent a Hercules plane to carry out an aerial survey to help determine the scale and spread of the fire.

The Chatham Islands are about 840km east of Christchurch and consist of 10 islands, many of which are nature reserves.

About 600 people were listed as living there in the 2013 Census.