Waiouru fire spreads over 3800ha, South Island blaze contained

The wind has eased in the central North Island, allowing firefighters tackling a fire burning east of Waiouru to resume ground and aerial operations.

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) says light rain is also falling, which is helping crews as they work to bring the blaze under control.

Incident Controller Nigel Dravitzki says it currently covers 3800 hectares and may take several days to fully contain and extinguish.

He said five ground crews were working on the western flank of the fire, and this afternoon seven helicopters resumed the air attack to stop the fire's spread along the eastern perimetre.

Teams from FENZ, the NZ Defence Force and local volunteer brigades are all involved in fighting the fire.

Fire and Emergency's National Coordination Centre has also been activated to support the fire as well as other large-scale fires across New Zealand.

Winds forecast to ease, cold weather on the way

MetService head of weather news Heather Keats told Morning Report the strong winds were making it difficult to fight wildfires, but rain was expected to help and the wind forecast to ease.

Keats said another front was expected to arrive over the South Island on Wednesday bringing a further change in wind direction and strength, but was not expected to be as severe.

The country was in for "yo-yo temperatures" as the strong north-west wind turned to a southerly before easing, she said. Dunedin reached 28C on Monday, but would have a high of 13C on Tuesday, then 20C on Wednesday, and Thursday it would be 13C maximum again.

Over the weekend, Wellington's Mt Kaukau recorded a maximum 148km/h and Mt Somers in Canterbury had gusts of 222 km/h.

Wellington airport had 113 km/hr winds at 4am on Tuesday and Dunedin had 87 km/h.

Keats said strong winds and rising temperatures could make for a challenging wildfire season as the country headed into summer.

Heavy rain warnings for the Grey and Buller districts and Tararua Ranges were lifted on Tuesday morning, as were strong wind warnings for Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa.

Smoke warning issued after Roxburgh fire

Crews were back at the site to dampen remaining hotspots on Tuesday and heavy machinery was being used to fell damaged trees.

Fire and Emergency advised locals to stay inside and close windows and doors as a significant amount of smoke was expected in the area.

At least seven fire crews had worked on the blaze - which was thought to have started in trees about 2.45pm Monday - with FENZ saying strong winds added to the problem.

Six households east of Roxburgh township had been evacuated and hundreds were left without power. By Tuesday morning all but 35 properties had the power supply back.

Central Otago Mayor Tamah Alley told RNZ on Tuesday the last evacuees were on their way home. She said sustained rain overnight had helped put the blaze out.

Alley said the community had rallied together."It was really heartening to see the community come together yesterday and offers of assistance and places to stay and food and kennels for animals and the like were put out very quickly."

In Southland, crews were brought back on Monday to work on a scrub fire that burned through about 80 hectares. The fire started on Sunday afternoon on high-country land in the Centre Hill area.

Fire restriction

The Bay of Plenty issued fire restrictions from Tuesday following a spate of fires in the region.

Outdoor fires will need permission from Fire and Emergency New Zealand until further notice in Whakatāne, Waihau Bay, Ōpōtiki, Coastal Strip, Urewera, Galatea, Plateau North, and Plateau Central.

FENZ Bay of Plenty Community Risk Manager Luke Burgess said restrictions were coming in earlier because of forecast El Niño conditions that made fires easier to start.

He said more than 70 fires had started in the past month, many starting from unattended beach fires or burn piles.

"The Bay of Plenty has a lot of valuable conservation land, beaches, agriculture, and forestry, and we need the community to help us keep them safe from fire this summer."

Burgess urged the public to be cautious with fireworks which were a significant cause of fires during summer.