Tokoroa forestry fire: Crews contain fire after over five hours

• Firefighters battled a vegetation fire overnight in a South Waikato forestry block near Tokoroa.
• At the height of the fire, there were 16 crews in attendance.
• The fire covered a 100m by 70m area of pine and eucalyptus trees.
• “Cold, windless” conditions helped contain the fire.

A large vegetation fire that burned through an area 100 metres by 70m in a forestry block south of Tokoroa has been contained after hours of firefighting efforts.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident controller Paul Hunter said the fire was first reported at 9.45pm and was contained at about 3am.

At the fire’s height, 16 crews were battling the blaze.

“The land has now been handed back to the forestry management,” Hunter said.

“The summer has been so dry that there is a lot of dead, dry grass around the district.

“We were very lucky that the night was cold and damp, as forest fires have the potential to move very quickly and be hard to control.”

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Incident controller William Pike said last night the fire was burning an area of pine and eucalyptus trees.

Pike said crews were expected to dig a firebreak around the area to stop the fire from spreading to other areas of the forestry block.

“Conditions are cold, damp and windless, which is helping to keep the fire from growing, but crews are expecting to be at the site for another 12 hours while it is extinguished.

“There are 16 crews currently in attendance, although some are being stood down until operations start up again in the morning.”

Pike said there were no people or buildings near the fire and there were no evacuations.

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