New Zealand Firefighters Say Tongariro Wildfire Is Coming Under Control

A wildfire that swept across thousands of hectares of New Zealand’s Tongariro National Park appears to be coming under control, officials said. Residents are being allowed back into the area following an earlier evacuation.

Rain and the efforts of firefighters have seen “a significant decrease in active fire activity,” Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident controller Nigel Dravitzki told reporters Monday in Wellington. The weather has prevented aerial surveillance to confirm the situation, he said.

The fire has impacted at least 2,800 hectares (6,920 acres) of the 79,000 hectare national park, which is a World Heritage area in the center of the North Island and includes the active volcano Mount Ruapehu. Firefighters were able to protect tracks and huts in the area, including those associated with the Tongariro Crossing hike, but the area will remain out-of-bounds to visitors for some time, officials said.

Dravitzki said investigators are yet to establish what caused the fire, which started Saturday. The tiny Whakapapa Village was evacuated late Sunday while a number of hikers were also airlifted from huts.

About 600 walkers booked on the Tongariro Crossing are affected as well as 100 people who had registered to use huts in the area for overnight stays.

While tourism-related assets have been saved, there has been extensive biodiversity damage which will take several weeks to assess, the Department of Conservation said.

Firefighters will remain on site for several days with aerial support on standby.

Photograph: Firefighters from Taranaki and Manawatu-Whanganui in the Tongariro National Park on Nov. 10, 2025; photo credit: Mike Scott/New Zealand Herald/Getty Images