Vegetation blazes ignite across region
Southlanders will need permits to light fires from this week after a raft of vegetation blazes ignited in heavy winds on Saturday.
‘‘We had fires popping up everywhere,’’ Southland’s Fire and Emergency New Zealand deputy principal rural fire officer Timo Bierlin said.
The cause of the fires varied, but at least two were old burnoffs which reignited in the strong nor’westerly winds.
‘‘When you get north westerly winds they are dry and strong and that’s when you get nervous,’’ Bierlin said.
A burnoff at Wairaki Station three months ago ‘‘lit up again’’ in the winds on Saturday.
‘‘It went into some pine trees and the Blackmount crew responded and it took all day to put it out,’’ Bierlin said.
He wanted to reinforce the message to landowners to check old burnoffs to ensure they were out, or at least closely monitored.
A vegetation fire from a couple of days ago on the Papatotara Coast Rd near Tuatapere also flared up again on Saturday.
Five helicopters were used to help put out the blaze which covered about four hectares and got into native bush, he said. It was unknown how it started. Another burnoff near Tuatapere was extinguished by firefighters and there was a vegetation fire near Lumsden, believed to have started by powerlines sparking after pushing together in the strong winds.
‘‘We had four tankers go in there, it took from about 11am till 6pm to put it out.’’
There was also a shed fire on Mt Linton Station, and work was required at Otara-Haldane Rd to ensure the fire in a forestry block from last week didn’t flare up again, he said.
Predictions were for a dryish January with above average temperatures.
‘‘We go into a restricted fire season this week.’’
The public will need to apply for permits to light fires but there would be some exemptions.
More than 50 volunteer firefighters were involved in extinguishing Saturday’s blazes.
They sacrificed their weekend and without them Fire and Emergency New Zealand couldn’t exist, Bierlin said.
‘‘It’s physically hard work, they are working at the end of a shovel, digging out hotspots.’’
It was also tough work holding onto the high powered hoses; and heavy gear had to be dragged through vegetation.
‘‘Volunteers are the most important part of Fire and Emergency New Zealand . . . they are doing a great job.’’
‘‘. . . they are working at the end of a shovel, digging out hotspots’’ Timo Bierlin, deputy principal rural fire officer