Morning Headlines | Forest fires in Te Haroto and Wairarapa, and advisory group seeks to drive reform in aged care | Monday January 12, 2026
Firefighters are battling a vegetation fire near a Nelson beach this morning, with crews working to stop it spreading toward a beachfront café.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said they received several calls from the public reporting smoke and a fire near the volleyball courts about 9.53am.
Crewsfrom Nelson were initially dispatched, with further support coming from Stoke, Appleby and Tāhunanui.
“At the moment, we’re still working to fully contain and extinguish the fire,” the spokesperson said.
Crews have the blaze under control and are now putting out hotspots. Photo / Fire and Emergency NZ
He said it was “pretty windy up there at the moment”, which had been reported by some callers, though they had not received detailed updates from crews on the ground about whether conditions were hampering firefighting efforts.
Beach Cafe and Bar owner Sarita Tiwari said staff had been advised they may need to evacuate if conditions changed.
She said the cafe remained open, but was only offering takeaways at this stage.
She said she had not gone close to the fire but could see smoke from the cafe.
“I can see the smoke from the cafe but not the fire. They have it under control,” she said.
Tiwari said the response from emergency services was “amazing”.
Fire and Emergency responded to 11 separate vegetation blazes in a single day on Sunday. Photo / Fire and Emergency Canterbury
Meanwhile, Fire and Emergency Canterbury said crews across the wider region had been stretched by a spike in vegetation fires.
In a social media post, the agency said there were 11 vegetation fires across the Canterbury Fire District on Sunday.
At the peak of a fire at Rotterham, there were 20 fire appliances, a command unit and three helicopters fighting the blaze, with aircraft also deployed to fires that had started in Cheviot and Kaikōura.
It said firefighters remained at a separate fire in Rotherham today to extinguish hotspots.
