Raging firefight
the fire but they are mindful of the amount of foam they use as it’s detrimental to the environment.
LACES
More than 100 firefighters are on the job. Most are local volunteers and paid crew. Others have come in from Marlborough, North Canterbury and the West Coast, as well as three military crews. Local forestry companies who have firefighting training, as well as Department of Conservation crew, are also playing a part in getting the fire under control.
All rural firefighters must know and operate by the Laces rule. It stands for: Lookout, Awareness, Communications, Escape route, and Safety zone.
This is a mantra that all rural firefighters must learn and act on, says Sutton.
Crews are on a 12-hour shift, working two hours on and one hour off.
‘‘It’s been hard work today. They have been exposed, not just to the fire and smoke, but the sun and the wind. We have to keep an eye on the accumulation fatigue.’’
Most crew have four-wheel drives to get them to the areas they are going to fight. Where there is no road access, they walk.
All are well trained, with some having experience dousing mega-fires in Australia and North America.
‘‘Now, if we had fires like they do in those places, we would run out of land and all be in the water,’’ says Sutton.
❚ About 400 people have been evacuated from their homes. ❚ A dozen ground crew have been fighting the fires. ❚ 16 helicopters are dumping between 30 and 50 monsoon bucketloads of water a day. ❚ Each bucket can hold 400-1000 litres of water. ❚ Between 168,000 and 800,000 litres of water are being used to douse the fire each day. ❚ The fire was thought to have been sparked by a contractor ploughing a paddock in Pigeon Valley opposite Tasman Pine Forests land. ❚ A second fire broke out on Rabbit Island. ❚ The fire has spread over 1600 hectares and forced the evacuation of more than 180 homes, causing an estimated $1 million to $2m of damage to forestry. ❚ The number of crew have doubled since Wednesday and is expected to grow again today as they try to beat the forecast winds.