Nelson bush fire: Teapot Valley residents work to protect their homes

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

Residents in Nelson's Teapot Valley have had a sleepless night, working together to protect their properties from the fire.

Teapot Valley resident Dorje Strang said the situation was 'horrible'.

'It's like nothing I have ever seen, there were flames 100 metres in the air last night.'

Strang hadn't been evacuated, but worked with police and emergency services to remain on his property.

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'We've got plenty of water stored, I've got sprinklers running on the garden from the vineyard irrigation … just keeping the lawns short and livestock safe, all that sort of stuff.'

Residents in the Teapot Valley are working to protect their properties from the bush fire in Nelson.

Last night, residents had banded together to help another whose house was in immediate danger, moving possessions and farm machinery to safe ground.

A helicopter battles the spreading fire in Pigeon Valley.

Strang said residents were cutting fire breaks and making sure they had plenty of water. A lot of people had their cars ready to leave if needed.

He estimated there were about 30 houses in the valley, with 40 to 50 people living there.

'It was so hot last night, there are so many residual hotspots and it is still burning across that big front.'

Views of the forest fire on the Moutere Highway.

Strang said he thought Eves Valley had 'copped the brunt of it'.

The wind changed direction late last night which provided some relief but Strang said that meant someone else was at risk.

'It just devoured the Eves Valley Hill and I feel sorry for those poor people in Eves Valley and Redwood Valley.'

He said everyone was working 'hard out' and people had arrived from out of town to help, but they had a big job in front of them.

Helicopters with monsoon buckets fight the out of control Tasman fire near the Eves Valley Saw Mill.

'It has been such a dry summer, I sort of thought we would get a fire at some stage, but not of this scale.

'It's not good at all, it's definitely not over.'

Pigeon Valley Steam Museum volunteer Michael Higgins said he and his family spent an 'anxious night' at his Spring Grove property on Tuesday afternoon.

Plumes of smoke covered Pigeon Valley as the fire ripped through bush.

He could not see flames from his property, but could see the smoke from the fire just over a ridge.

Higgins had a 100-hectare forestry block, and his family moved their equipment away from the property boundary just in case, he said on Wednesday.

'But it's gone right around us … it was just past the end of my forest, past Eves Valley Rd. This morning, it was threatening to come back again, but the choppers have come back again too, and it looks like they're doing the job.'

Higgins' property seemed to be in the clear by about 8pm and he even went to sleep last night, he said.

'So we've been really grateful. Give it another day and we will know if we're in the clear. At the moment, it depends what the wind does and what the weather does.'

An update from Civil Defence on Wednesday afternoon said the fire had slowed down, due to lower temperatures and increased moisture in the air, but that could change quickly if the temperature and wind increased.

Ground crews were in place in the Eves Valley, Redwood Park and Pigeon Valley areas and 16 helicopters were working to protect homes and manage the fire.

Bulldozers were also working on containment lines in key areas.

Around 170 homes had been evacuated, the latest in the Pigeon Valley South area.

All evacuated residents are asked to report to the Civil Defence Centre at St John's Church, Wakefield to register. The centre can provide welfare information and help with accommodation for those who need it.

Livestock needing to be evacuated could be accommodated at Richmond Showgrounds.