Fire crews have stood down on Sunday night after spending the day battling a vegetation blaze at Awarua Bay, south of Invercargill, which began on Saturday night.
Fire and Emergency NZ incident controller Mark Mawhinney said the fire is mostly burning on Department of Conservation land, in over 1000 hectares of manuka scrub and peat soils.
Mawhinney said the blaze was reported around 5.30pm on Saturday and is not yet contained.
Nine helicopters and four crews were at the scene on Sunday. The number of ground crews are set to double on Monday.
The fire is covering over 1000 hectares on mostly Department of Conservation land. (Source: 1News)
Fire and Emergency will be carrying out an investigation into the cause of the fire and say it may take over a fortnight to fully-extinguish the blaze.
The public is asked to stay away from the Awarua Bay area.
Dean Whaanga, Kaiwhakahaere for Awarua Rūnaka, told Fire and Emergency that Awarua-Waituna is significant to Ngāi Tahu whānau and to the local community.
Awarua-Waituna is one of New Zealand’s largest remaining coastal wetland systems, one of five significant wetlands in DOC’s national Awarai Kākāriki wetlands restoration programme. It is home to many wading birds and other species.
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