Fire and Emergency drone crews identified 16 hotspots overnight, with crews now focused on dampening them down today.

Incident Controller Mark Tinworth says three helicopters and 22 personnel on the ground will be in operation.

"The fire remains contained, and has not grown in size overnight.

"A big thank you to our crews and helicopter pilots who will be working hard again today as we continue efforts to extinguish this fire."

Cordons are back in place with access to residents only on Island Block Road and Falls Road between 8am and 6pm to allow air operations to continue and restrict access to the public on the fire ground.

For residents in the area, we understand there may be concerns regarding water tanks and ash-debris fall. People can visit Health New Zealand’s Waikato website for more information about this here: Meremere Wildfire, North Waikato - WaikatoDHB Newsroom

Fire and Emergency’s Waikato Local Advisory Committee will be visiting the Incident Management Team this morning.

The next update will be late afternoon.

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