New Zealand authorities have announced they are sending additional firefighting aircraft to tackle a large fire that is raging out of control on the North Island, having already consumed approximately 1,100 hectares of a national park in the central part of the country.
Firefighters began battling the flames in the Tongariro National Park, a popular area for hikers, yesterday, Saturday afternoon. Around 40 hikers had to be urgently evacuated by air. However, the firefighting operation was suspended when darkness fell for safety reasons.
The Fire and Emergency service stated today that it is sending more aircraft to the area; in total, eight helicopters and three planes have been deployed for the operation.
“Due to the terrain and the size of the fire, water drops from the air are a more effective method than for ground crews to operate” on the front line, explained Craig Gold, the fire chief.
Nine hikers were urgently evacuated early this morning, reported the state-owned Radio New Zealand, citing a spokesperson for the national forest protection service.
The fire service stated that a reconnaissance flight was planned for later this morning to ascertain the extent of the fire. Depending on the assessment, it is expected that operations will be required for at least one more day to control the fire. They planned to deploy six of their own vehicles and six water tenders on the ground.
(information from protothema.gr)
