Firefighters continue to monitor Matakana Island over holiday period

Photo / Fire and Emergency NZ

Around 50 firefighters were expected to have continued fire fighting efforts on Bay of Plenty’s Matakana Island in the lead into Christmas.

Approached for a Boxing Day update, a spokesperson for Fire and Emergency NZ told Te Ao they did not have any further updates to their latest one, which indicated efforts would likely continue in the run-up to Christmas.  In that update, they said they will maintain their presence on the island over the holiday period.

"We are expecting to have a similar number of firefighters on site tomorrow [Wednesday] as well. We will have a continued presence on the Island over the holiday period to monitor and deal with any further hot spots."

Fire and Emergency have said they are working closely with local iwi, Ngāi te Rangi.

The fire, which began on 13 December, has been burning deep underground with little smoke visible above land.

Earlier this week, 75 firefighters were involved in fighting the fire.