The Southland Times

Fire emergency declared

- Stuff reporters

As firefighte­rs yesterday battled a blaze in the Nelson-Tasman region which has seen about 170 homes evacuated and a state of emergency declared, another fire broke out on Rabbit Island, across from Nelson Airport.

Plumes of smoke rose from the island, directly north of Appleby and Wakefield, where evacuees have gathered.

Residents were asked to evacuate the area immediatel­y.

The Rabbit Island fire ‘‘came out of the blue’’ according to Grant Haywood, Fire and Emergency NZ Tasman area commander, but he said there were enough resources to address it.

Ground crews and 16 helicopter­s were fighting the first blaze, first called in about 2pm on Tuesday at Pigeon Valley, near Wakefield, about 30km southwest of Nelson.

By yesterday morning, the fire had more than doubled in size to cover 1870 hectares, or 18.7 square kilometres.

Houses had been lost in two separate areas but there had been no reports of injury.

West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O’Connor said a short flyover yesterday afternoon revealed the significan­ce of the area that had been burnt.

Without quick work, this ‘‘very significan­t’’ fire had the potential to affect extensive blocks of forestry. There were clearly still hotspots within the perimeter, which was ‘‘pretty stable’’, he said.

Firefighte­rs still had work ahead to get it under control and reduce the chance of another flare up.

Fire crews were attacking the blaze in a circular fashion and hitting hot spots, Haywood said. ‘‘We’re still working to contain it and actually get some boundaries around it. It’s of significan­t size. It basically goes all the way from Wakefield right down to the start of Appleby so it’s a large fire."

Haywood said they were expecting the wind to change and the temperatur­e to come up.

‘Scary’ speed of fire

Tasman district councillor Dean McNamara, who had been helping at the evacuation centre in St John’s church at Wakefield, said the speed of the fire was ‘‘quite scary’’.

The Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor stayed at the centre on Tuesday until about 11pm and was back at his post from 6am yesterday.

‘‘I’m directing people to the right place,’’ he said of his role as a Civil Defence co-ordinator for the Wakefield area.

Many people had arrived with food and offers of accommodat­ion for families who had been evacuated. Some of the evacuees were keen to find out when they could return home to check on stock.

Emergency declared

Earlier, an emotional Tasman district mayor Richard Kempthorne said the state of emergency was declared at 8am for the region.

It was a decision Kempthorne made in conjunctio­n with Nelson mayor Rachel Reese.

‘‘I was amazed to see how that fire had spread with the wind, [in] exceptiona­lly dry conditions, [it’s] very dangerous, spreading very quickly,’’ Kempthorne said.

‘‘This is a horrendous experience. We’re personally affected ourselves with family property in the area.’’

Declaring a state of local emergency means it’s easier to coordinate responses to the fire, and agencies have better access to resources, and the power to make decisions. An air force C-130 Hercules was being used to fly police officers and firefighte­rs from Wellington to Nelson.

Four firefighte­rs and two fire engines were also being sent from Manawatu’s Linton Military Camp, and will travel to Nelson via the ferry.

Three firefighte­rs and a fire engine were also being sent from the RNZAF’s Woodbourne base.

Incident controller Ian Reade, of Fire and Emergency NZ said it was believed the fire started outside the Tasman Pine Forests Ltd plantation.

There was no suggestion it was suspicious, Reade said.

The Tasman district has experience­d a long dry spell, with serious water restrictio­ns and the fire risk has been extreme.

 ?? SUPPLIED/DAWN GAUL ?? The start of the Pigeon Valley fire on Tuesday that turned into a major fire storm in the Tasman district near Nelson and continued to burn yesterday.
SUPPLIED/DAWN GAUL The start of the Pigeon Valley fire on Tuesday that turned into a major fire storm in the Tasman district near Nelson and continued to burn yesterday.

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