More fires in Australia and NZ

Fire warning in Western Australia

A catastrophic fire danger warning has been issued for people living in the southeast of Western Australia.

Radio NZ,

23 January, 2013

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the worst possible conditions for bush or grass fire on Wednesday for the Eucla, which includes the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area, as well as the shire of Dundas.

Residents have been warned that any fire that takes hold will be "extremely difficult to control and will take significant firefighting resources", AAP reports.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said spot fires would start well ahead of the main fire, causing rapid spread of the fire with embers coming from many directions.

DFES said people living in or near bush with high fuel loads would be at risk and needed to act.

Meanwhile, severe fire danger advice has been issued for inland parts of the Pilbara and coastal parts of the Great Southern for Wednesday, while extreme fire danger will be experienced in central and southern parts of the Interior.

A total fire ban has been declared for the Shire of Esperance

NZ: Crews battle to contain Great Barrier Island fire

Dozens of firefighters are spending a second day attempting to get a large fire on Great Barrier Island under control.

Radio NZ,

23 Janaury, 2013

Three helicopters are tackling the blaze along a one kilometre front, Auckland Civil Defence says. About 40 firefighters, including some on their way from Auckland, will be working on Wednesday to contain the fire.

Houses have been evacuated and a medical centre is also under threat from the fire which broke out in the Kaitoke area on the east of the island on Tuesday afternoon.

Spokesperson Glyn Walters told Radio New Zealand's Morning Reportprogramme the fire is close to Claris airfield which is affected by smoke.

Winds of 35-40 kilometres an hour were forecast to continue during the day but ease in the evening. "We're hoping to get on top of things today," Mr Walters says.

Auckland principal rural fire officer Bryan Cartelle said a total of 40 properties had been evacuated since the fire broke out, several of overnight as a precaution.

"Our concern is that we haven't got a containment line around (the fire) and that's our objective today."

On Tuesday, three helicopters with monsoon buckets fought the blaze until it got dark. A smaller crew worked overnight to control the edges of the fire and a full operation resumed at first light.

Four police officers were sent to help with evacuation and road closures, as there are only a few police on the island.

No property has been damaged and no-one has been injured.

In Northland, firefighters were continuing to tackle a large fire that had burned 180 hectares of scrub since it began at Pouto, in Kaipara, on Tuesday morning.

Four helicopters with monsoon buckets, two diggers, two bulldozers and ground crews worked to control it and at nightfall all but a few staff were stood down.