Whanganui wildfire: Crews prevent further spread but Lismore Forest blaze not yet contained

An aerial view of the Lismore Forest fire at 8am on Monday. Photo / Fire and Emergency NZ

A fire at Lismore Forest near Whanganui has not yet been contained.

On Monday afternoon, Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews remained at the fire, which started on Sunday evening.

In a Facebook post on Sunday night, Manawatū-Whanganui Fire and Emergency said the fire, which had taken hold of pine trees and vegetation across several gullies on SH4, was spreading into standing pines.

As of 2.30pm today, the fire was not contained but crews had managed to prevent it spreading further.

Five ground crews, supported by seven helicopters and heavy machinery, were working on the fire.

Fire and Emergency assistant commander Renee Potae said about 100ha of land was affected by the fire, with an estimated perimeter of 4km.

The Lismore Forest fire at 2am on Monday. Photo / Fire and Emergency NZ

“Over the next few hours, we will be keeping a really close eye on things as the temperature will be up,” Potae said.

“The fire is still active on many parts of the incident ground and crews are working to extinguish fires while also removing fuel to prevent the fire spreading further.”

Fire and Emergency’s Incident Management team is working out of Whanganui Fire Station.

The team would continue to work closely with the forestry company that manages the forest, Potae said.

Planning was underway for operations overnight and on Tuesday.

Earlier, four helicopters conducted an aerial operation while nine fire trucks and tankers, along with a command unit with operational support vehicles, battled the blaze on the ground.

Fire crews from Whanganui, Manawatū and Marton were at the scene.

On Sunday, residents living on the fringe of the blaze were watching closely and preparing to leave immediately should the fire threaten their homes.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen on Sunday evening billowing high into the sky across the burning vegetation.

One rural resident said the wind had been stronger earlier and “we had ash falling around our house”.

“It seems to have settled a bit now. I can see three helicopters working,” Joni Reynolds said.

The resident said they had a plan to evacuate.

“The neighbours have been in touch, we will just keep an eye on it.”

Another resident, who lives 20 minutes from Fordell, told NZME the fire “must be pretty big if I could see it from my house”.

Fire and Emergency earlier urged motorists to allow plenty of room on the local roads for the big response.

“If you’re driving in the area, please make way for emergency vehicles, as a large number of fire trucks are heading to the site.

“At this stage, there is no indication that structures are at risk.

“We’ll update this post when we have more information about the fire and any impact on the community.”

Difficult start to summer as fires erupt

In January, 11 tankers and one helicopter responded to a similar large vegetation fire in Parikino.

The latest incident adds to the challenging start central North Island crews have faced in the summer fire season.

Firefighters have already tackled two large blazes in nearby Tongariro National Park: last week, an “accidental mishap” ignited a 296ha fire that was swiftly contained; and last month, a larger outbreak prompted evacuations and took several days to control.