FOREST TALK
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IT’S BEEN LABELLED THE MOST disruptive and costliest wildfire in recent New Zealand history, with a whopping $30 million bill that is still mounting, and the effects of last month’s Wakefield blaze could linger on well into the winter.
The main fire was brought under control around ten days after it started in an agricultural field in Pigeon Valley and spread to bush and pine forests, but fire fighters remain in the area to douse hotspots and watch for any flare-ups. And they could be there for a while, until conditions are deemed benign.
Logging contractors, their employees and families will probably feel the effects for much longer, not to mention forest owners who lost their plantation blocks or had log production curtailed.
That’s because harvesting and silviculture operations in the wider Nelson region were halted by Civil Defence for almost two weeks as part of a widespread equipment ban. Around 30 crews were affected, with 240 forestry workers laid off and only allowed back outside the fire-affected area after convincing Civil Defence of the robustness of their Health, Safety and Risk Management plans.
Even though some were re-employed to fight the fires and help with creating fire breaks and other related tasks, many loggers lost their regular pay. Contractors also lost income, estimated at around $10,000 per day per crew.
“Financially, it’s a big blow,” contractor Kim Brant told NZ Logger, adding that it will take time to recover from the losses, even though forestry companies, such as Nelson Forests, worked to mitigate the hardships, including offering a support package for contractors to assist with the impact of crews being unable to work until normal operating conditions resumed. Government agencies also scrambled to help.
On top of that, many loggers and their families also had to quit their homes during the height of the fire, since the Wakefield district has a large forestry population, causing disruption and additional financial burden. Around 1,700 people were directly affected by the fire.
Forest owners are counting the cost, too. Whilst nearly 2,000 hectares of pines were burned, the inability to get logs out of other forests in the region quickly mounted. It even forced the closure of two sawmills, including the big CHH plant in nearby Brightwater.
Tasman Pine Forests (TPL), owned by Sumitomo Forestry NZ, was among the hardest hit with around 60% of the burned pine blocks under its management.
Although the destruction of forest area to TPFL was described as “serious” by TPL’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve Chandler, the variety of tree age classes and the fact that some trees were left unburnt or partially burnt has helped to minimise losses.
Chandler says TPF plans to salvage as much as it can before the trees start to deteriorate, adding that extra manpower and machinery resources will be required to do that, along with additional resources needed to clear and replant the areas burnt.
He goes on to say that fire mop up and patrol work will continue in the fire area and the rest of TPF forests until the area receives significant rain.
Meanwhile, attention is also focusing on what can be done to prevent such fires in the future or manage them better.
Lees Seymour, Managing Director of Nelson Management Ltd that operates Nelson Forests (whose forests were untouched by the fire) says: “There are always lessons to be learned from experiences such as this.
“We will be working with FENZ (Fire & Emergency New Zealand) and with our own staff and contractors to identify lessons learned and expect there to be greater clarity about this over time.”