Firefighters continue to battle a Northland scrub fire which has been burning for more than two weeks.
As of Monday afternoon, 44 firefighters were working across the almost 2400-hectare blaze.
Ron Devlin, Fire and Emergency NZ's Auckland region manager, told 1News the fire is "complex", with firefighters from as far away as Invercargill coming up to help to contain it.
"It's an active fire ground so it's burning as much under ground as it is above ground."
It means the number of firefighters has increased from previous days, in large part due to the change in weather.
"Winds are picking up around 25km/h and this afternoon it'll go up to 50 kilometres," Devlin said.
Shifts in wind make it more challenging to fight the fire, he explained.
"If you're fighting the fire in the northwestern side and all of a sudden it pops up strongly in the southwest, then you've got to move 10km and you've got to pick up all the gear and you've got to get it down there.
More than 40 firefighters are now fighting the fire near Kaimaumau burning since December 18. (Source: 1News)
"This is really challenging and this is not easy ground for people to get across."
The Department of Conservation, Defence Force, police and iwi are also actively supporting firefighters on the ground near Kaimaumau.
"We'll keep looking to get our firefighters from around the country, so New Zealand can feel quite comfortable that we've got this."


















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