State of emergency extended for fire
The State of Civil Defence Emergency for the Tasman district fire has been extended for a further week but the remaining 250 evacuated residents may be allowed home tomorrow.
Tasman district mayor Richard Kempthorne yesterday afternoon announced the state of emergency extension, the second time the declaration has been extended since the 2300ha fire took hold on February 5 in Pigeon Valley, about 30km southwest of Nelson.
The state of emergency, a joint declaration by Kempthorne and Nelson mayor Rachel Reese for the Nelson-Tasman region, was first made at 8am on February 6.
Kempthorne said as well as the 250 people still evacuated, another 3500 residents were on standby to evacuate, if needed.
‘‘The situation still requires a greater response than we could manage without the assistance of other agencies,’’ he said.
Civil Defence Nelson Tasman group controller Roger Ball said there was still a large number of people at risk.
‘‘The scale of the fire and the resulting evacuations require a significant co-ordinated response from a range of partners and it is clear that Fire and Emergency New Zealand will be on the ground here for some time to come. The risks do remain very real,’’ he said.
However, it was hoped evacuated residents of Eves, Redwood and Teapot valleys would get extended access to their properties today from 8am to 4pm. They had access yesterday from 8am to 2pm but could be home for good from tomorrow.
‘‘I am very pleased to be able to tell you that we are working towards a conditional re-entry for all of the remaining valley residents . . . from Thursday morning,’’ Ball said.
The re-entry would be on the same basis of other returned residents – that they be ready to evacuate again at short notice.
Some people had been out of their homes for two weeks, which was leading to anxiety and stress ‘‘not to mention the economic impact on many’’, Ball said.
However, he warned that weather and safety conditions were being reviewed constantly and ‘‘these plans . . . may change at short notice’’.
When asked about the benefits of having a declaration, Ball said there were still people evacuated and quite a large number of people who may need to be re-evacuated.
‘‘We are also needing to rely on the powers of the declaration to maintain cordons and excluded areas,’’ he said. ‘‘We also have a . . . prohibition in place, which prevents farming and contracting activity with metal on metal, metal on stone, which could spark further fires.’’
However, there was an exemptions regime in place for people who successfully applied.
A detailed briefing for the valley residents was planned for today with a community meeting planned at Hope Community Church from 6pm-8pm, Ball said.
The Ministry for Primary Industries yesterday encouraged residents with restricted access to ensure they provided their animals with enough food and water for at least two to three days.
As of yesterday, about 70 animals were being cared for at the Richmond showgrounds, including rabbits, birds and livestock.