Town, valley evacuated amid fire threat

Fears wind will fan flames in direction of Wakefield

The town of Wakefield was evacuated yesterday afternoon after fire chiefs’ feared that a northerly wind was picking up and could threaten the town.

A fire had also broken out in Nelson city, on Walters Bluff.

The call was made at 12.50pm yesterday to start evacuating the 3000 residents of Wakefield. It affected between 800-900 homes and the evacuation was expected to take 4-6 hours.

Civil Defence recovery manager Richard Kirkby said residents needed to go immediately. There was no time to dampen down their properties, he said.

Kirkby said between the state highway and the river, the whole area was being evacuated.

“The rest of Wakefield will follow suit, they have all been told to move out, but they are focusing on that first stage and then they will be moving on to the second stage.”

Kirkby was urging residents to stay with family and friends.

“We have opened up the Saxton Stadium and that is sufficiently big that if people need to have a place to stay that will be set aside for them to go and stay there.”

Community rallies

Residents were packing their prized belongings and some extra clothing and fleeing.

Nigel Patterson, a volunteer fireman, was watering his brother’s house roof before they left.

Next door, a family was packing six cats and a rabbit into a car and driving 16km to grandparents.

“We started packing our things like photo albums last night,” one woman said. “We hoped we didn’t have to leave but when they say go, you don’t muck around.”

Mal Grennell and his wife Lisa Grennell were among the few waiting outside the cordon, ready to help people move stock.

“It’s good to be able to help, once we get through the road block,” Mal Grennell said.

With a stock trailer in tow, Grennell said he knew they would just be able to help people with smaller flocks.

Locals were distressed about moving stock and horses, he said.

“Especially the horses, they get very flighty in conditions like this.”

Alongside Mal Grennell, Dion McGaveston was ready help move as many animals as possible.

McGaveston said he did not want to sit at home while people needed help.

He has brought in two trusted farm dogs to help muster if needed.

Ruth Bell, owner of Four Square Wakefield, said the whole situation was nerve-wracking for everyone.

“It is unpredictable at the moment. We are still open as we haven’t had the emergency services tell us otherwise,” she said. “A lot of people are buying water as there is ash in the supply

and it is a bit murky.

“But we have a really good team in Christchurch and we have ordered some extra water so we have enough to keep our locals going.”

Bell said the customers had been “a bit on edge”.

“We are usually a relaxed country bunch but it is starting to rattle a few people now,” she said.

The fire front at that stage was about 2.5km-3km away.

However, there were fears a northerly wind, which was picking up, would fan the fire as it did on Thursday afternoon.

There had been reports of embers from the blaze jumping 600-800m. It was feared embers could spark a new front by landing

on the tinder-dry area, which had just been declared by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connorto be a drought zone.

Fire officials said the fire was not under control at that stage, Kirby told media.

“They’re doing their best to limit where it goes.”

There was a fire break around the Wai-iti River at Wakefield.

Govt support

Earlier yesterday morning more residents were evacuated from their homes in Pigeon Valley as concerns mounted about heavy smoke and the possibility weather conditions could fan the flames.

Meanwhile, a medium-scale adverse event was declared for Tasman district, unlocking further Government support for farmers and growers, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced yesterday afternoon.

While some residents had earlier been able to stay with their homes, police and other Government agencies were working yesterday afternoon to ensure all residents evacuated safely.

Streams of people continued to leave Pigeon Valley Rd with packed-up belongings, smoke thick overhead.

People were asked to take water, food, medicines, pets and valuables and to register at the Evacuation Centre at Wakefield, St John Church.

People with horse floats and SPCA animal rescue vehicles had been seen trying to get back into the cordon.

Extra New Zealand Defence Force personnel were also assisting police with the evacuations.

A reporter at the scene said rural fire vehicles were filling up at the fire station next to the cordon before racing off towards the blaze.

She said there was a lot of white ash falling from the sky, and the cordons had been moved down the road to the intersection with State Highway 6.

“Some residents on Windlesham Pl, off Pigeon Valley Rd, were distressed. Others were putting water into their gutters through hoses to try and keep the roof from catching fire if flames came near,” she said.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) was working with vets, SPCA, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and police to help farmers manage their animals or move them until it’s safe to return.

O’Connor said the focus remained on getting the blaze under control, cleaning up the immediate damage and then supporting the rural sector to recover for winter.

“The Rural Support Trusts do a fantastic job all around the country and are invaluable during emergency situations and in the weeks and months following,” he added.

“There will be difficult times ahead and the Government will ensure everything that can be done will be done to ensure people and animals are safe and can get back on their feet.”

Earlier yesterday it was also revealed that the leaseholder of the land where the Tasman bush fire allegedly began on Tuesday afternoon was “co-operating fully” with investigators.

A lawyer acting for N E Park & Sons said there were “indications” it may have emanated from land leased by his client company while contractors were operating on that land.

The Herald revealed on Wednesday that a contractor ploughing a tinder-dry field up Pigeon Valley was suspected to have sparked the blaze.

Lawyer Rick Farr said that while it was “far too soon to confirm the source or the cause of the fire”, the major concerns were “ensuring the safety of the residents affected as well as protecting property and infrastructure and of course getting the fire out”.

“My client company is cooperating fully with insurance assessors, investigations have commenced and the findings of those investigations will no doubt become public in the fullness of time.”