WIND ‘TIME BOMB’
No end in sight to Nelson state of emergency as fire comes down from hills and creeps towards empty town.
FIRE and Emergency services are holding their breath as wind gusts of 40-50kmh are expected to develop in Wakefield today.
The bush fire in Nelson has been raging since Tuesday, turning Wakefield into a ghost town with nobody allowed into the area. The hills and reserves all over the district are a no-go zone, and both preschools and primary schools will be closed tomorrow.
Last night, as of 6.30pm, just over 2600 people had registered as having evacuated, from roughly 1200 houses, Tasman District Council said.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand rural regional manager John Sutton described the possible threat of a wind change as a ‘‘time bomb’’ and said ‘‘we’re in the hands of God’’.
The temperature in Nelson is forecast to reach 25 degrees Celsius.
Police issued warnings to the residents of Wai-iti to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
‘‘We are ready to back out of the garage,’’ said resident Glenys Thomson-Gibbs. ‘‘It has been quite an ordeal.’’
Thomas-Gibbs had already evacuated her daughter and their pets.
Yesterday more than 100 firefighters continued to fight the blaze, which had spread to cover 2100 hectares.
Elsewhere around the country, scrub fires broke out in Wellington and in the Manawatu town of Foxton.
Sutton said the uncertainty around wind strength and direction changes was keeping everyone on their toes.
‘‘This is what’s really worrying us, as I’ve said all along that the wind is our biggest enemy, that has determined the strategy that we have been implementing on this fire for the last few days as anticipation for that strong wind.’’
Sutton said the response has managed to slow down the fire but not actually stop it.
‘‘It’s come down the hill and is starting to come out onto the flat.
‘‘At the moment up until recent reports we’ve been successful in extinguishing all of that fire that’s come out onto the flat, let’s hope we can continue doing that.’’
Firefighters could control the fire as long as the winds don’t ‘‘get excessive’’.
‘‘We can control this fire, contain this fire, if we don’t get excessive winds, we will be able to do that in a matter of days from now if we didn’t have fires that were pushed out of our control lines by winds, so otherwise we will work on this until we achieve that or it rains.’’
Firefighters were using heavy machinery and, during daylight, helicopters.
‘‘The threat is still there; it’s the threat that we’ve been worrying about for the duration of this fire, the possibility of it coming out of the forest and then coming into Wakefield,’’ Sutton said
The fire was only one kilometre from the town yesterday afternoon.
‘‘By coming out of the forest off the slope and onto the flat, although it’s getting closer to Wakefield, it’s actually beneficial for firefighting purposes because it’s coming into a lot lower vegetation, grass, scrubland, and it’s a lot easier for us to extinguish.’’
Civil Defence Nelson
Tasman group controller Roger Ball said yesterday the fire was a nationally significant event, with more than 1000 homes evacuated, and he took his hat off to the first responders.
‘‘We’re into day four of a declaration of a local emergency; there is no prospect in the immediate future of that declaration ending.’’
Discussions tomorrow would look at an alternative location for the local schools.
‘‘The situation remains dynamic, changeable; there is a risk to life and our animals and buckets.
The drive from Nelson to the roadblock affords plenty of irony. You have to go through places called Hope, Brightwater and Spring Grove. The Church of Christ at Spring Grove has a sign saying ‘‘May God bless you this year’’.
Not that Nelson has been immune to the fire threat.
On Friday afternoon a blaze flew up Walters Bluff, threatening houses until helicopters quickly doused the flames with sea water. The fire was heading towards the Matai Valley, and a trig point called the Centre of New Zealand. Imagine the country’s centre in flames.
The fire flared again at 6pm, threatening bush above Grove St and causing an evacuation just to be on the safe side.
Phil Whakarangi, a Grove St resident, quickly filled his car with his treasures, including a cat called Gee Gee and a screen print of All Black great Richie McCaw he bought last year.
The spectacle of the flames our property,’’ Ball said.
‘‘There is a particularly close focus on the Wai-iti area, close to Wakefield at present and we’re particularly concerned about weather conditions that are forecast for tomorrow.’’
Police inspector Zane
Hooper said the area of most concern was south of Wai-iti and residents should remain on alert as the prepare-to-evacuate notice issued on Friday was still in place.
He reiterated that those who chose to self-evacuate should register with Civil Defence.
‘‘It’s critically important that people in this area take all precautions now in relation to being able to move if they’re asked to by police.
‘‘If the evacuate message is given, we will be coming door to door, however, on receiving their message, you should evacuate.’’
Nelson mayor Rachel Reese told Sunday News yesterday evening she was ‘‘extremely grateful’’ to Fire and
Emergency New Zealand for their hard work, and for how they controlled Friday’s fire at Walter’s Bluff so quickly.
The blaze, which was separate from the main Pigeon Valley fire, ‘‘started very, very quickly’’ and was close to some houses.
Fire crews responded rapidly to the Walter’s Bluff blaze considering they were under a lot of pressure already, she said.
However, the area was not out of danger. Reese asked locals to report any signs of smoke to the authorities.
Staff reporters racing through the bush chased by monsoon buckets soon had the road lined with sightseers.
Back to yesterday. The wind is picking up, and the heat is building. The chopper pilots and firefighters are approaching what they call the Devil’s Hour, or 2pm, when the wind is expected to be at its height.
The paddock acting as the helicopter airfield is baked a bleached brown like all the fields hereabouts. Many of the pilots are veterans of blazes around the world, including the Port Hills fires above Christchurch in 2017.
Choppers from all over the country form the 20-add strong fleet fighting the fires. A poignant sight is a helicopter from Alpine Helicopters in Wanaka.
The company is owned by the Wallis family, who lost two sons last year in helicopter accidents around Wanaka.
A northerly wind will blow the fire towards Wakefield. Today’s forecast is expected to be worse.
‘We’re in the hands of God.’ JOHN SUTTON FIRE AND EMERGENCY NEW ZEALAND