Testing time for evacuated residents
NELSON: The relentless heat and dry conditions in Nelson are testing tempers, as hundreds remain out of their homes in the wake of the Tasman wildfires.
Residents at the southern end of Pigeon Valley, evacuated in the Nelson area bushfires, were allowed to return home yesterday morning.
NelsonTasman Civil Defence group controller Roger Ball said last night another 40 properties across the rural valleys affected by the fire had been approved for conditional reentry from 8am today.
However, he said the returning residents must be prepared to leave again at short notice if the situation changed.
That leaves 94 properties still evacuated. Most of Redwood Valley, Teapot Valley and Pigeon Valley remain evacuated.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi and West Coast Tasman MP Damien O’Connor all visited Nelson yesterday.
Mr Faafoi said he would seek an extra $100,000 at Cabinet on Monday to go to the Mayoral Relief Fund.
This would be on top of the $70,000 already provided.
Ms Ardern also went to the Hope Community Church, where she spoke with the 400 children of Wakefield School who have been relocated there.
For principal Peter Verstappen it was a welcome relief from the pressures of the past week.
He said evacuating a school, along with more than 3000 Wakefield residents, was no simple task, but there was no question they had to.
‘‘When the smoke was thickening around the school, when the ashes were falling from the sky, when pine needles were falling from the sky . . . yeah, we were worried.’’
Mr Verstappen said the school would remain operating from the Hope hall until the allclear was given.
That was not likely to be before Monday.
He said several school families had not moved back despite the evacuation order for Wakefield having been lifted.
‘‘They’re still concerned about the risk of needing to reevacuate.’’
Among returning Pigeon Valley residents was Merv Randle.
He said on Tuesday last week the fire was as close as 500m from their property.
Over the last week they had been able to make short visits each day — except for Saturday when it was too dangerous — to dampen down the section and check on the aviary birds they had to leave behind.
‘‘The house smells of smoke, and it’s covered in pine needles, but we’ve dodged a bit of a bullet.’’
Mr Ball said despite what some thought, Civil Defence had not used a sledgehammer to crack an egg.
‘‘I don’t think it’s about a sledgehammer.
‘‘It’s more about that we’ve got to work through the safety issues and they are really complex.’’
Ms Ardern said there had been several hundred calls to the government support helpline, which were dropping off by about 20% each day.
‘‘So that would be indicative of people returning to their homes.
‘‘The kinds of needs we’re having brought in through that line are things like accommodation, food assistance and soon.’’
Ms Ardern said it was not just a service for people who accessed Work and Income, but for anyone who needed help as a result of the fire. — NZME