Bush fire started here, but how?
A farmer who leases a paddock where Nelson’s massive blaze began says it’s too soon to say what caused the blaze, according to a spokesman.
A person ploughing a paddock in Pigeon Valley, about 30 kilometres from Nelson, was believed to have sparked the fire that started on Tuesday afternoon forcing the evacuation of nearly 200 households and destroying one home. It is not clear who was driving the tractor pulling a disc plough at the time.
Stuff can reveal the fire started at a farm owned by Patricia Sowerbutts. The farm is leased by fifth-generation farmer Ian Parkes.
Stuff visited Parkes’ Eightyeight Valley property yesterday morning but was asked to leave.
A spokesman for Parkes’ company, N E Parkes & Sons, confirmed to Stuff the company leased a block in the area affected by fire.
‘‘But more than that I can’t say, it’s too soon. All we’re concerned about at the moment is making sure people and their properties are safe.
‘‘It’s far too soon to make any comment about the cause of the fire.’’
He said the paddock was a ‘‘small part of a very large farming operation’’. Parkes had ‘‘quite a number’’ of contractors working him.
Allegations that the blaze was sparked by the ploughing was ‘‘far too presumptuous,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘My investigation is just beginning, making sure people and property are safe and fire is out, next part of that is an investigation as to how it was caused.’’
The spokesman was unsure if police had spoken to Parkes.
Fire authorities earlier confirmed the fire started near Tasman Pine Forests land.
It was highly likely a tractor started the blaze, Fire and Emergency New Zealand regional manager rural John Sutton said yesterday morning.
Sutton believed the owner of the tractor was mortified.
‘‘It’s an accidental event, it’s certainly nothing that anyone would hope to happen. It’s a totally unintended consequence.’’
It was ‘‘almost certain’’ the fire was caused by a spark from agricultural machinery, he said.
‘‘There was a tractor towing discs in a rocky field and ... I wouldn’t say certain but it’s highly likely that’s how it started.’’
The fire has spread over 1900 hectares and forced the evacuation of 182 homes, causing an estimated $1 million to $2m worth of damage to forestry. A State of Emergency has been declared in Tasman, and at least one house has been lost, with others yet to be confirmed, Civil Defence said.
A fire investigator was working to determine the cause of the blaze.
While the perimeter of the fire did not expand on Wednesday, there was ‘‘significant internal burning’’, Sutton said.
‘‘When fire goes through the landscape, it doesn’t go with a ... clean sweep, it goes rapidly in some places and a lot slower in others so you end up with large islands of unburnt fuel that’s still actively burning and they are a threat depending on how far they are from the perimeter.’’