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Update: 5.30pm
Tauranga fire crews joined other firefighters on Matakana Island this afternoon to fight a fire that has breached a firebreak.
A helicopter also helps.
Last Sunday, firefighters were called to a fire on Matakana Island after Kewpie’s captain Amy Neale first noticed it around 3pm.
A team of firefighters was dispatched to the scene and helicopters used rain buckets to help put out the fire that had engulfed the ocean side of the island.
During the week after the fire, a team of firefighters has been mitigating the hot spots and monitoring them.
This afternoon, fire jumped the firewall and FENZ shift manager Paul Radden says fire crews are trying to get it back under control.
Smoke from this afternoon’s fire was seen from Whakamarama, Maungatapu and Papamoa.
Sonia Bernard says she can smell the smoke from her home in Bethlehem. Bridget London says ash rained on Otumoetai.
The Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Glenda Maplesden
The fire rained ash on Otumoetai. Photo: Bridget London.
The Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Glenda Maplesden
The Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Glenda Maplesden
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Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Gui Calmelet from Skydive Tauranga
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Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Gui Calmelet from Skydive Tauranga
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Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Gui Calmelet from Skydive Tauranga
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Matakana Island Fire. Photo: Gui Calmelet from Skydive Tauranga
The Matakana Island fire was noticed by a Whakamarama resident around 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Photo: Lee Cooper
Smoke from Matakana Island spreads across the Bay of Plenty, as seen from Minden Rd, Te Puna. Photo: Andrew Scott
To update. 4.15 pm
A helicopter and fire crews have joined the island’s fire team to deal with a rapidly spreading blaze on Matakana Island this afternoon.
“We have a couple of teams coming from the mainland,” says FENZ shift manager Paul Radden.
“And also air operations with a helicopter in use.”
Radden says crews are trying to control a fire that had jumped through the firewall.
The blaze had started last Sunday with firefighters monitoring it for the week and mitigating hot spots.
This afternoon, around 1pm, the fire took a new direction and smoke was seen from as far away as Whakamarama.
Sonia Bernard says she can smell the smoke from her home in Bethlehem. Other readers report that ash has fallen on their properties in Otumoetai.
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The fire at 4.15pm in Whakamarama. Photo: Martin Braim
Photo: Noah Blair
Photo: Sonia Bernard
The smoke on Matakana Island can be seen from across the port of Tauranga. Photo: Cameron Avery
3.10pm update: This afternoon there are reports of an increasing amount of smoke billowing from Matakana Island.
SunLive readers living in Maungatapu, Whakamarama, and Otumoetai can see smoke rising into the air.
Fire Emergency NZ confirmed that a firefighting team on the island has been dealing with the fire since it broke out last Sunday.
Just after 1 p.m., Martin Braim saw smoke on the island from his property in Whakamarama. Over the next two hours, the amount of smoke rising into the air has increased and is heading towards Mount Maunganui.
The Whakamarama fire around 3pm. Photo: Martin Braim.
Earlier, 1.45pm: Sunlive readers from Whakamarama and Otumoetai reported seeing a plume of smoke rising from Matakana Island this afternoon.
Fire Emergency NZ has confirmed that there are firefighters on the island who are still dealing with the fire that started last Sunday.
“We still have staff on the island who continue to mitigate the hotspots and monitor the situation there,” says FENZ shift manager Paul Radden. “They are local crew from the island.
“It is a firefighting operation in progress since the original incident.”
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The Matakana Island fire photographed shortly after 1 pm from Whakamarama. Photo: Martin Braim
