Large vegetation fire in forestry block breaks out near Parikino, Whanganui

Fourteen crews of firefighters and four helicopters with monsoon buckets are responding to a large vegetation fire in a forestry block near Parikino, Whanganui.

In a Facebook post this evening Manawatū, Whanganui Fire and Emergency said the fire, which had taken hold of pine trees and vegetation across several gullies of SH4, was estimated to have grown to 2-3km wide.

Four helicopters were conducting an air attack while nine fire trucks and tankers along with a command unit with operational support vehicles battled the blaze on the ground.

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

Residents living on the fringe of the blaze are watching closely and preparing to leave immediately should the fire threaten their homes.

Large plumes of smoke can be seen billowing high into the evening 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,” said Joni Reynolds.

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 the Herald the fire “must be pretty big if I could see it from my house”.

Fire and Emergency earlier urged motorists to give 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.”

At 8.30pm there was no information to suggest that SH4 was affected by the blaze.

Difficult start to summer as fires erupt

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

This follows an already difficult start to the summer season for central North Island firefighters. Fire crews have had to deal with two large fires in nearby Tongariro National Park.

Last week an ‘accidental mishap’ started a 296ha blaze which was quickly contained. While last month a larger fire in the National park resulted in evacuations and took a number of days to bring under control.