New Nelson fire; homes evacuated

NELSON: Residents forced to leave their homes after another fire in the Nelson region were allowed to return home last night — but they must remain ready to evacuate again at short notice.

The TasmanMarlborough Fire Area said just before 8.30pm that the majority of people had been given approval to go home after being evacuated this afternoon for safety reasons.

However, families from five of the 97 properties evacuated will not be able to return home, as a precautionary measure.

Those residents live on the Moutter Highway.

‘‘Cordons remain in place at the intersections of Maisey Rd and Moutter Highway and Old Coach Rd and Moutter Highway,’’ a statement said.

‘‘Fire crews will be patrolling the Redwood Valley and Moutter Highway area overnight to monitor conditions. Vegetation fire crews will be working on the fire ground during the night.’’

Yesterday’s fire was reported shortly before 1.30pm north of Pigeon Valley, where huge wildfires began three weeks ago.

At a media briefing just after 6.30pm, authorities confirmed that the blaze — covering about 4ha now — had been contained and was no longer moving.

A Fire and Emergency representative said crews had since slowed the momentum of the fire.

‘‘We have a controlled line around the fire,’’ he said.

Firebreaks were bulldozed on three sides of the blaze, while a road provided a firebreak on the fourth side.

Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne thanked the Redwood Valley community for their cooperation and acknowledged that the evacuations had to happen.

Fire authorities reiterated that, revealing that at one point, the blaze was within about 1km of Redwood Valley properties.

Battling the blaze has been a huge effort. Seven helicopters were called out to tackle the fire near the Moutter Highway.

A total of 16 fire trucks and two bulldozers were also sent to the scene.

An update just after 5pm said the blaze had been stopped at the foot of the gully where it first started.

It was in standing pine heading into grassland and covered about 5ha at that time.

Fire crews were confident then, though, that they would be able to control the blaze, despite windy and dry conditions in the area.

People in the area are being urged to be extra careful when carrying out activities that could spark fire.

The MetService said the region could expect more dry weather for the rest of the week. — NZME