South Wairarapa fire contained, caution urged in 'extreme' conditions

The fire has burnt through about 30ha, and is now under control. Photo / File

A fire that burned through 30 hectares in South Wairarapa has been brought under control, as authorities urge vigilance in high-risk conditions.

The fire began about 8pm on Monday near the Cape Palliser lighthouse.

Wairarapa principal rural fire officer Phill Wishnowsky said the damage to coastal grasslands and scrub was less than estimated.

"It's probably covered about 30 hectares," he said.

"The fire is contained and we're hopeful we'll have the fire out by the end of today."

The damage was mostly to private property, with some to Department of Conservation land, he said.

Yesterday Fire and Emergency had estimated the damage to be around 45ha, but Wishnowsky said this had been an overestimation.

"It's very difficult to judge while you're fighting a fire, just how big it is," he said.

Four rural fire crews and two helicopters were brought in to fight the fire yesterday.

The helicopters were able to leave about 3pm, but around 20 people – two fire crews and a management team – remained on the scene today.

Wishnowsky said they could now turn their attention to the demanding task of extinguishing hotspots to prevent the fire expanding again.

"We've still got extreme conditions here so it is a risk, we're concentrating on finding any hotspots and if we do, we dig them out and put them out.

"While things are working in our favour we're able to progress with that work without those hotspots actually flaring up and starting another active fire."

He said the process of putting out hotspots was a laborious, dirty and physically demanding job.

"It's a progressive task of working our way around the perimeter and working our way in from the edge – what we call blacking out."

"It's a case of working right around the edge of the fire looking for any hotspots and then moving in a few more metres."

Investigations into the cause of the fire would be able to start after this task was complete, likely tomorrow, he said.

He reminded people the area was still in a total fire ban, and to be vigilant.

"We've got strong winds, we've got high temperatures and we've got low humidity – our risk profile is very high so we ask people to use a bit a common sense and be careful."