Smoke from the fire. Photo: Karen Thoresen & Eric Wright
The last few residents have reportedly been evacuated from Waipoua Settlement in Northland as the remote, forested area is threatened by a massive fire on Wednesday.
Volunteers of the Te Kopuru Fire Brigade reportedly brought the last two residents out of the settlement to the safety of the Waipoua River mouth on the west coast.
Access to the Waipoua Settlement is not possible from State Highway 12 due to the fire.
It is believed some firefighters are also unable to get out by road and will have to evacuate via the beach.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said they were alerted to the 70 hectare fire with a four kilometre perimeter on Wednesday afternoon.
They said it was expected to grow larger.
There were multiple grounds crew and seven helicopters fighting the blaze, with three more arriving from Taupō on Thursday.
Houses were at risk, the a Fire and Emergency spokesperson said but none had been lost yet.
Crews would keep fighting the fire until nightfall and would be onsite overnight to watch the blaze, the spokesperson said.
It was likely to be a "long-duration event", they said.
The fire is close to the former Waipoua Forest headquarters and about 6 kilometres from the kauri tree Tane Mahuta.
It is roughly 6km south of Tāne Mahuta, the world's largest surviving kauri tree.
Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson said he was in contact with Civil Defence about the fire.
"At this stage our Civil Defence controller is monitoring the situation, but it's unlikely to require a Civil Defence response," Jepson said.
The mayor said to his knowledge no one had been harmed.
"Fire and Emergency are working closely with Te Roroa, the iwi that owns that area and they have evacuation plans in place."
Te Roroa iwi leader Snow Tane said the evacuation of the Waipoua forest settlement was still ongoing.
"The evacuation is motion at the moment, we've evacuated most of the whanau from the settlement but there are some down there still currently.
"We're working on trying to get them out but at this stage everyone is safe, even the ones at remain in situ.
"It's going to be an interesting night because if the wind changes, then things could change, and send the fire maybe towards the houses."
He said at this stage there were not concerns the fire could threaten Tāne Mahuta.
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