The air attack on the Tongariro National Park fire will continue until twilight as fire crews battle to bring the blaze under control.
The large fire in the Central Plateau broke out yesterday, triggering evacuations of trampers and closing a highway last night.
Evacuations continued early on Sunday as the out-of-control wildfire spread. This evening Whakapapa Village was also evacuated.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand assistant commander Assistant Commander Craig Gold said that the fire now covers an estimated 1800 hectares and is 20% contained.
Twelve helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft are water-bombing the fire, while another helicopter co-ordinates their movements.
Civil Defence Minister Mark Mitchell and Conservation Minister Tama Potaka are travelling to the Central Plateau Emergency Management Centre today to support response efforts and receive briefings on the situation.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand, Skotel Alpine Resort owner Sam Clarkson described the power of the fire last night.
“It was like a hellscape, you know, welcome to Mordor, it really was.
“The wall of flame was enormous ... I would estimate some of those flames are 30 metres high.”
Clarkson said the “wall of orange” was at least four kilometres long.
”Everything that the fire service were valiantly trying to throw at [it] was achieving nothing,” he said.
Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton flew over the fire ground this afternoon and told the Herald he was taken aback by its scale.
“Absolutely devastated, really. You can only feel for the work that’s going on there in the background,” Kirton said.
“It’s devastating for the wildlife. What we can do is make sure that, from a human perspective, that lives are saved and safe.”
Kirton said conditions are dry and windy.
”We just hope that it doesn’t change direction towards the Chateau, for example, which is what I understand is going to happen.
“What we do know though is that the fire will probably run out of fuel.”
Five facilities in the vicinity of the fire have already been evacuated as a precaution. They are the Hillary Outdoors Education Centre, the Mangatepopo School Camp, the Old Mill, the Taurewa Lodge and the Avondale College Lodge.
Two Department of Conservation (DoC) staff lodges are also being evacuated.
Forty-three hikers and the Mangatepopo Hut warden were airlifted out on Saturday as a precaution with DoC staff providing welfare at Whakapapa Village.
“We made the call very early to evacuate those people. Erred on the side of safety and made a call to evacuate them immediately because really, with the wind change, results could have been catastrophic,” Fire and Emergency’s Gold said.
Wendy Smit and her friends had just completed the crossing when they noticed smoke in the distance.
“We were wondering if it was in National Park or, you know, like a hotel or a house, because it seemed pretty big,” Smit said.
From the safety of Waimarino, Smit and her group watched the fire burn into the night.
“It kind of looked like the volcano was glowing because it was just a red glow in the distance.”
As a precaution, nine hikers were evacuated by foot and vehicle from the Waihohonu Hut on Sunday morning.
All tracks and huts within the Tongariro National Park are closed until further notice.
This evening, Fire and Emergency said Whakapapa Village is being evacuated as a precaution.
Gold said that the decision to evacuate the 36 people who live in the village was based on the fire’s behaviour today.
“We are erring on the side of caution and getting people out in daylight, after plenty of warning. This way we have time to make sure that everyone is accounted for during daylight.”
Fire and Emergency is working with police, iwi, DoC and local council civil defence staff to keep the community safe.
Anyone affected by smoke should keep doors and windows shut to minimise exposure. Residents who feel unsafe or are vulnerable to smoke are encouraged to self-evacuate and stay with family or friends.
Residents of Waimarino (National Park) are being asked to conserve water as a precaution. Currently the township’s water supply is not under threat – but this is being monitored closely by Ruapehu District Council.
Residents are also being encouraged to prepare a grab bag with essential items and to keep pets close and ready to go.
People north of the fire are advised to go towards Tūrangi and people south to go towards Waimarino (National Park).
Fire and Emergency said fresh crews of firefighters from Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui joined the battle to bring the blaze under control this morning.
“It’s quite difficult terrain because it’s sort of undulating and it’s over a really large area and often we’ve got a long way to go in to, to get to the seat of the fire,” Gold said.
“We are prioritising the air operations for safety reasons and because of their effectiveness in this terrain and over a large fire front.”
Help could be on its way in the form of a change in weather.
“I think the weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday are pretty favourable. We might be due a bit of rain. What’s of most interest for us at the moment is the wind.”
There are no reports yet of structural damage but there is still significant impact on the local environment, according to Clarkson.
“It’s just an ecological disaster. I watched, literally weeping as the fire went closer and closer and closer to the hill Pukeonake, which is a sensitive sub-alpine environment where the little communities of plant life all huddle together and live out their lives, and it just got toasted,” he told RNZ.
Authorities are warning the public to stay away.
“It’s an impressive site to watch, but we don’t want rubberneckers up there or anybody going up the road,” Gold said.
It’s expected to take a full day of operations to bring the fire under control.
State Highway 48 is closed. State Highway 47 is closed from the intersection with SH4 at Waimarino (National Park) with no detours available.
A no-fly zone is in place covering the airspace over the fire ground and surrounding area, so that firefighting aircraft are not endangered by other aircraft or drones.
What caused the fire is unknown.
“We’ve deployed a specialist investigator from Wellington who’s en route to come up and assist police, with investigating the cause of the fire,” Gold said.