Family face twin fire threat
It was out of the flames and into the fire for the Mooney family last Friday when they were evacuated from their home near Wakefield.
The family of six left their house next to State Highway 6 near Spring Grove to flee the Tasman district wildfire – only to pull up at the home of family members in Nelson city suburb The Wood to discover a blaze under way above them at Walters Bluff.
‘‘We thought, ‘Oh, we’ll be in town, we don’t have to worry’,’’ said mum Jasmine Nicholson-Mooney.
One of the children cried when the new fire was spotted. ‘‘We were in a bit of shock, I think,’’ Nicholson-Mooney said.
‘‘We were standing there thinking, ‘If they knew how fast the other one went . . . do we need to evacuate?’.’’
However, while the Mooneys were behind the cordon for the Walters Bluff fire, they did not have to evacuate for a second time that day, as the blaze was brought under control within hours.
The Mooneys were among more than 500 people who gathered at Hope Community Church on Saturday to hear the latest information about the wildfire threatening their homes.
Dad Kyle Mooney said the family were warned on Thursday that evacuation was a possibility. As he could not see the flames from their home, he took a short drive to Barton Lane, from where he could see the ridges on fire. ‘‘But it still seemed quite a long way away.’’
Nicholson-Mooney said it appeared as if the fire was dying down before Thursday. ‘‘And then it just suddenly popped up, it suddenly got worse.’’
The family loaded their car when the text came after lunch on Friday calling on them to evacuate.
‘‘We packed, probably not as much as we should have,’’ Nicholson-Mooney said. ‘‘Mainly photos and things like that.’’
She was worried that she did not take enough of the children’s clothes.
‘‘Someone on the news last night was saying that they took their wedding dress, and I completely didn’t even think about it,’’ she said with tears in her eyes. ‘‘It’s those little things like that. I think, ‘Crap’ . . . but I’m trying to say positive.’’
Mooney said he took some reassurance from the meeting that ‘‘they’re keeping an eye on Wakefield’’.
Nicholson-Mooney said she was thankful that so many people were helping to bring the blaze under control. ‘‘They’re fighting it with everything they possibly can.
‘‘We’re trying to be positive and think it will be fine. There’s so many properties there – it’s not like it’s just us.’’