Crews are responding to a scrub fire in Kūaotunu. Photo: Supplied
Fire crews are still working to contain a vegetation fire on the eastern Coromandel peninsula.
Fire and Emergency is continuing to fight the fire, which broke out yesterday near Kūaotunu.
The fire has grown to approximately 600 metres by 600 metres in size, from about 300 metres by 600 metres on Saturday.
Fire and Emergency's Assistant Commander for Waikato, Shane Bromley, said there were three helicopters and two ground crews at the scene on Sunday morning.
Bromely said Sunday afternoon that while the fire is under control, it is not yet contained.
Crews are focusing on dampening down hotspots and the left-hand side of the fire, which three helicopters are attacking from the air.
It is hoped the fire will be contained by the end of today.
Bromley said the fire had grown slightly in size since Saturday, with firefighters having to deal with some tough terrain.
"The fire is up a cliff face in old pines that have been fallen and have regrowth all over, so it's a little difficult for ground crews to get in there," Bromley said.
He said crews were working to fight the fire from the air, with about 40 staff at the scene from Kūaotunu, Whangapoua and Coromandel.
He said there was no risk to people or property.
"There's two properties that are close by the fire, but they're well away and in a safe area. At this stage we don't see there's a risk to those properties, it's still quite a long way away from them, and there's a lot of grass in between, so the efforts the crews will put in today won't require evacuations."
Bromley said the fire was under control, and expected the fire to be contained by the end of Sunday - though it would still take a few days to extinguish completely due to the terrain.
He said there was a strong southeast wind blowing smoke out to sea, so they were hopeful the wind would die down on Sunday afternoon.
Bromley said they were asking people to please stay out of the area if they did not need to go there.
Black Jack Road will be closed all day, with stop go traffic management in place so residents can access their homes.
There have been no evacuations.
It is not yet known how the fire started.
Blaze a reminder district under total fire ban - Thames-Coromandel mayor
Thames-Coromandel mayor Len Salt reminded people the district is under a total fire ban.
While it was not known what caused the blaze, it was a reminder to everyone to stay vigilant, he said.
"We're on high alert for fire risk and at this time we call on our communities and visitors and locals to manage that fire risk.
"Just to make sure they're careful about open fires, minimising the risk whenever possible and basically working together to keep everyone safe."
Salt said firefighters had done a fantastic job controlling the blaze in challenging conditions.
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