Chill adds heat to firewood calls
South Cantarbrians hoping to purchase firewood to fight off the cold snap hitting parts of the region will need to wait a while to get it.
Point Lumber sales representative Phillip Burns said firewood was selling ‘‘like hotcakes’’ and he had a list of 60 customers waiting to buy.
Topcut Firewood owner Don George said his delivery schedule was booked up.
‘‘Anyone who calls up today will need to wait three weeks,’’ George said.
Getting the firewood dry enough to sell was another issue that was holding up sales.
Northwesterly winds were scarce this year, making it difficult to get the firewood ready.
‘‘It has been a wet season with very little wind,’’ George said.
‘‘We’ve had maybe three or four days of northwesterly winds lately.
‘‘Normally we have day after day of it.’’
Burns said firewood being exported to China meant there would be less available this year.
‘‘We ran out last year and we’ve got pretty low again now,’’ Burns said.
‘‘There’s not many places to get it because people are getting better money for it overseas.’’
George said he did not have trouble getting logs, but agreed there were more going out of the country.
George ran out of firewood in July last year when usually it lasted until September, at which point he would start growing his stock again.
‘‘I’d say that’s the first time in 10 years I’ve run out of wood and couldn’t supply people,’’ he said.
George predicted the same thing would happen this winter season.
Last year he had people coming down from Christchurch looking for firewood and although the situation had not yet reached that point, he was already getting calls from people in Geraldine.
‘‘I’m getting a lot of calls I don’t usually get,’’ he said.
George encouraged people to be better prepared in future by buying firewood in spring or summer, and was part of Environment Canterbury’s scheme last October to promote early firewood purchases.
‘‘Years ago people would buy their wood early but now people leave it later every year.
‘‘It’s been a slow drift.’’ Geraldine Primary School has won $500 worth of garden centre vouchers from Mitre 10 in Timaru. The vouchers will enable the school to develop their edible garden, and will be presented to the school on Friday afternoon during school assembly. The competition, for students in years 5-8, was run by the Soil, Food and Society project.
Better burning demos
Environment Canterbury (ECan) has announced 90-minute smoke-free burning demonstrations on May 2 and May 3 at 10am and 5.30pm each day. The demonstrations, at Breens Plumbing in Browne St, Timaru, will give people a chance to see both an ultra-low emission wood burner and a low emission wood burner in action. People will be able to ask questions, and leave with a free bag of kindling. The sessions will be led by Dave Pullen, a New Zealand Home Heating Association ‘‘firemaster’'. Pullen will demonstrate the difference between the burners while also giving plenty of tips on easy fire lighting - including the importance of using plenty of kindling, and how to build a smoke-free fire.
2018 Poppy appeal begins
The theme of Poppy Appeal 2018, which was launched on Thursday, is Not All Wounds Bleed. The RSA has decided to focus on service-induced mental health injuries, which are the most common but least understood of all wounds suffered by New Zealand servicemen and woman. The appeal annually raises vital funds to support the growing needs of New Zealand’s 41,0000 veterans and their families. The 2018 appeal marks the 96th running of the appeal, which makes it New Zealand’s oldest continually run appeal. The day was launched in Auckland and will culminate in Poppy Day on April 20. Members of the public can support the appeal by making a donation to a Street Appeal collector on April 20. Donations can also be made online at rsa.org.nz or at any ANZ branch or by texting POPPY to 4622 to make a $3 donation.
Police notebook
Incidents reported by Timaru police include:
A police safety order was issued after a family harm episode in George St on Tuesday. Police attended the incident at 10pm.
One person was issued with a police safety order for 24 hours after a family harm episode in Queen St on Tuesday. Police attended the incident at 3pm.