Whānau who whakapapa to Wharemaru hapū o Kaimaumau are expecting to find extreme fire damage to sacred historic sites.
Urupā or burial sites may have been damaged in the blaze, hapū member Lennon Raunatia Rippingale says. Photo: Supplied / Reef Lodge Motel
The Kaimaumau blaze is at least 2000 hectares in size - scaled-down this morning from initial estimates of up to 4000 hectares last night.
Overhead photographs show widespread blackened ground around sites cherished for centuries, including urupā.
Hapū member Lennon Raunatia Rippingale is among those preparing for the worst.
"At this stage, they're probably just burnt away - in all the bush. We have a lot of tūpuna who are buried there, so we want to keep it sacred."
He is the chair of the Wharemaru marae, and fire crews have managed to protect the building and grounds, in the village, for the last three days.
Raunatia Rippingale hoped whānau would be allowed to put in more firebreaks to stop devastating fires threatening their meeting house in future.
He said rules and varying approaches from the Department of Conservation, councils, and private landowners, had made it hard to have collective fire protection in the village.
"In the past, our elders used to backburn bush before the fire season. That's the way we've always handled things."
Fellow hapū member Ed Lazarus said the land determined the way of life in Kaimaumau, particularly kai-gathering.
"In the bush itself - plus we're blessed with the coastal environment as well as the ngāhere - and then on top of that, this is one of the only food places where we can get from east to west in five or 10 minutes."
The fire has mostly spread in and around the Kaimaumau wetland, neighbouring forests and dune vegetation.
The wetland stretches 11km from the mouth of Rangaunu Harbour, north-west to Motutangi.
It is the only remaining freshwater wetland in Te Tai Tokerau that exceeds 1000 hectares, and it is home to many native plants and animals, including 11 threatened plant species.
The fire has grown significantly since it first started three days ago. Photo: SUPPLIED