Firefighters battle another blaze at Tongariro National Park

Firefighters will remain overnight at the scene of a blaze that's burned through 322 hectares of alpine vegetation in Tongariro National Park.

Fire and Emergency said air operations finished at 8.30 on Monday evening, and active firefighting would resume in the morning. The fire was 50 percent contained.

A reconnaissance flight at 9pm found the fire had a perimeter of 8.5 kilometres and had not damaged any buildings.

Incident Controller Assistant Commander Renee Potae said three crews with a tanker would work through the night, supported by the command unit, in case of any flare ups.

"Fortunately, the fire has moved towards the area which was burnt last month, and this has enabled the aircraft to contain the southern flank of the fire."

However, a wind change forecast for the morning could cause flare ups and push the fire into unburnt vegetation.

Another update is expected at about 7am on Tuesday.

Nearby residents are advised to avoid smoke exposure by keeping doors and windows closed.

State Highway 47 from Waimarino to Tongariro is closed between the intersections of SH46 and SH48, and people are asked to stay well away from the area.

Earlier, 16 fire vehicles, 60 firefighters and nine choppers were battling the blaze, which came just a month after another mass of wildfire ripped through 3000 hectares of the national park.

A Fire and Emergency (FENZ) spokesperson earlier said the fires were southeast of the devastating blaze that took hold in the area last month.

FENZ director of operations Brendan Nally told Checkpoint it was the second fire to hit the maunga region in the past month.

"It's incredibly distressing for everyone who lives in and around and loves the maunga, and particularly mana whenua, so we extend our condolences and thoughts that there's another fire on their beloved mountain."

Nally said part of the blaze covered an area burned by last month's fire, and may have had more than one ignition point, but was now "one fire".

"There's some unsubstantiated reports about how this fire has started, and it's possible that there is more than one seat of fire. But that will be worked through in the appropriate way. But we are dealing with one contiguous fire boundary…

"So what we're saying is we have had some very early reports that there may be more than one seat of fire… I know that there's a lot of people on social media and there's lots of speculation out there, but you know, I prefer to give the public hard news, hard evidence when I know it for sure. And at the moment we don't know, so a fire investigation has commenced."

The cause of the fire was not yet known.

"It's not contained. We're hitting it hard and we're hoping to have it mostly contained by nightfall, but we are preparing for several days of operations."

Nally said they had learned lessons from the previous fire.

"That's why we're heading it very hard, very quickly this time. We've put a lot more resources on it a lot earlier. So nine helicopters, you can appreciate that it's a significant commitment when we're still only a few hours after fire start.

"So we know that the fuel type is difficult. We know that the terrain is difficult. We know that there [are] significant sites of significance there, and we also acknowledge that it has a huge impact for people who live and work on the mountain - so we're biffing everyone at it."

But there was limited resourcing, with fires elsewhere in the country to deal with too.

"Because of where we are in the time of day, we're focusing on those containment lines. And then over the next two days we'll knock it and we'll bring in fixed-wing aircraft which are more efficient in that role, and we'll use a mixture of ground crews on the ground, supported by aerial attack from rotary and fixed-wing aircraft."

Nally said people who could not evacuate should keep windows and doors shut.

Smoke visible

Elyse Schroder told RNZ she lives south of the fire in the Ohakune township, and said she could see smoke drifting towards Ohakune and Tūroa.

She estimated she was about 40 kilometres in a straight line over the mountain from where the fire actually was.

"It looks quite similar to how it looked to start with, with the previous fire a couple of weeks ago," she said.

"It's quite still at the moment and very, very hot and barely a cloud in the sky, so it's just sitting there rather than blowing away."

The Department of Conservation (DOC) said FENZ was leading the response and it was working to understand the extent of the fires.

Nally said there was little threat to DOC infrastructure, with most of the "fuel" in those areas already burned out.

Chief executive of Hillary Outdoors, Hillary Campbell, said all students and staff at its Tongariro centre were safe and accounted for.

It had 90 students and 24 staff on-site.

Campbell said Hillary Outdoors had been in contact with the schools involved and those schools had been in direct contact with the students' families.

Campbell said safety was the priority and they were monitoring the situation closely.

"We have a robust emergency management system that we follow and we have evacuation plans in place. So if an evacuation is required, we are prepared to move immediately."

Ray Goff of Summit Shuttles said he saw plumes of smoke as he made his way down from Whakapapa ski field this afternoon.

He said the fire and closure of State Highway 47 was the last thing the area needed.

Goff said with the detours adding a couple of hours' travel time, his was one of many shuttle companies weighing up what to do next.

"Devastating. Shit happens, unfortunately. We can't predict what's gonna happen with Mother Nature… I've got 30-odd customers that we need to get back from the end of Tongariro Crossing and we can't do that, so we're just waiting."

It comes after a week-long rāhui was lifted on 17 November following another wildfire that ripped through 3000 hectares of the national park.

The large fire on the Central Plateau broke out on previous Saturday afternoon, triggering evacuations of trampers and residents, including Whakapapa Village.

No official evacuation

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton says there has been no official evacuation order for Whakapapa Village as yet.

He said any evacuations at this point are voluntary and if things changed dramatically FENZ could order one.

"Those in Whakapapa village that might be booked into hotels, they've been advised that they can leave voluntarily, but there's no official evacuation so far."

Kirton said the community was concerned there has been two fires in the space of a month within the national park.

How either fire started is currently unknown.

Meanwhile, a stretch of State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa is shut as crews battle a fire at a pine plantation in Mohaka.

Fire and Emergency sent two helicopters and two trucks to the blaze, while 32 forestry industry firefighters were also responding.

FENZ said the fire measures about a kilometre by 300 metres.

Police said the road was shut between Mohaka Township Road and Te Kumi Road, and people should avoid the area and delay travel.

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