Saturday will be a significant day in the firefighting efforts at the Waipoua River fire.

Incident Controller Corey Matchitt says numbers on the ground will double to approximately 90-100 crew.

"Crews have put in hard mahi on Friday to strengthen and extend the containment lines and the extra crews tomorrow are to sustain and bolster their efforts," Corey Matchitt says.

"This means we will be able to make a huge effort to push in from the containment lines to make it safe for the evacuated residents to return as soon as possible.

"This work will also help us to be sure the fire is completely contained, which it currently is not."

A crew will use thermal imaging on Friday night to identify hotspots for ground crews to focus on tomorrow.

"We will also have a night crew in to monitor containment lines," Corey Matchitt says.

"Helicopters and heavy machinery will be in use again on Saturday.

"We are making use of all the resources we have available for the next three days to get on top of this fire."

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has declared a prohibited fire season for the Muriwhenua, Hokianga, Ripiro and Paparoa zones of Te Tai Tokerau Northland from 8am on Saturday 1 March, until further notice.

This includes the area around this fire.

A prohibited fire season means no outdoor fires are allowed and all fire permits are revoked.

This is the final update for today unless significant developments occur.

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