‘Unbelievable’ job saves home
Tim King thought fire would consume his Eves Valley home of 48 years.
The Tasman district deputy mayor was astounded to learn on Wednesday morning that the house was still standing though the fire got to within about 5m of it.
‘‘They did an unbelievable job,’’ King said of the firefighters. ‘‘I had genuinely accepted that we’d go back today and there wouldn’t be much left.’’
He was also thankful for all the people who came to help them on Tuesday night, including his son’s friends who arrived with their utes and clambered up on the roof to help protect the house and helped them collect as many of their belongings as they could.
‘‘The number of phone calls and text messages I’ve had overnight offering help, it’s just super humbling,’’ King said. ‘‘This is when you see the best side of communities isn’t it.’’
Sheep and cattle on King’s farm were moved to a safer spot near the river and the gates were opened. He hoped they would all survive.
Initially, King was not too concerned about the fire when he first spotted it in the early afternoon. However, it spread quickly and by early evening, the house had to be evacuated.
King did have to spend a couple of hours in the Emergency Department for treatment to a gash on his leg after he cut it on ‘‘a bit of future landscaping material’’ that was overgrown.
He could see the fire line at night, from the safety of a friend’s home in the Waimea Plains and had little sleep but felt grateful and lucky on Wednesday morning.
Fellow Eves Valley residents Maureen Kelling and Alan Walker were also impressed with the efforts of the firefighters, many of whom were volunteers.
‘‘It’s absolutely fabulous,’’ Kelling said from the old Eves Valley Rd where she went to check on their cattle. The animals appeared unaffected by a constant stream of helicopters filling up monsoon buckets near the Eves Valley sawmill.
Kelling said she and Walker were given 10 minutes to collect their valuables when they returned home from Nelson about 6pm on Tuesday.
A police officer told them the blaze was almost at the sawmill, about 1.5km from their home.
Kelling said it was terrible trying to decide what to take and the pair settled on their dogs, important documents, computer, vehicles and some clothes.
Their house was untouched as of Wednesday morning although they could not yet access it.
‘‘We’re going to be lucky,’’ Kelling said.