The public is being asked to stay away from a large vegetation fire near Invercargill, which covers about 1000 hectares.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) said six helicopters and four ground crews are fighting the vegetation fire at Awarua, south of Invercargill, which began on Saturday afternoon.
Incident controller Mark Mawhinney said the fire is burning mainly on Department of Conservation land, in about 1000 hectares of manuka scrub and peat soils.
He said the fire was reported at about 5:30pm on Saturday and is not yet contained.
"Fire and Emergency will be carrying out an investigation into the cause of the fire. In the meantime, the public is asked to stay away from Awarua Bay," Mawhinney said on Sunday morning.
