Nelson bush fire: Further evacuations in Wakefield
Friday, 8 February 2019
Wakefield residents in the area bordered by Barton Lane, Higgins Rd and Baigent Valley Rd are being asked to evacuate, along with the residents who earlier evacuated from north of SH6 between Pigeon Valley Rd and Simmonds Rd.
As part of the evacuation process, State Highway 6 will be closed in the evacuated area to assist police with controlling the area, Inspector Zane Hooper, Acting Tasman District Commander said in a statement just after 6pm on Friday night.
Evacuated people are asked to either report to Saxton Stadium at Saxton Field, Main Road Stoke, or call Civil Defence on 03 543 8400 and register their details.
Earlier traffic came to a standstill on State Highway 6 outside the community as police assisted with moving cattle across the road away from the wildfire. The road has been busy with many cars towing trailers, campervans and horsefloats as they head out of town.
**READ MORE:
* Nelson bush fire: The latest from the live blog
* Nelson bush fire: Timelapse video shows terrifying progress of blaze near Wakefield
* Nelson bush fire: 'Give us time' firefighters urge evacuated residents
* Nelson bush fire: Firefighters save the day for Carter Holt sawmill**
Police were directing traffic and going door to door along State Highway 6. Extra New Zealand Defence Force personnel are helping NZ Police with evacuations.
State Highway 6 from Bartons Lane to Trass Valley Road will be closed later on Friday evening on completion of the evacuations.
A diversion will be established on Kohatu Highway.
Further details will be on the Civil Defence website and information on NZTA.
TJ Harman and his family are packing up and leaving their Wakefield home to head to a family friend's house in Richmond. They were busy rounding up the families five cats and four dogs.
'We packed most stuff last night except for the animals and the essentials, with the wind picking up we thought it might happen.'
Earlier on Friday burnt pine needles, ash and old embers strewn about a Wakefield cafe show just how close an out of control fire came to threatening the village.
Wakefield's The Villa cafe owner Michael Meissner said he had a sleepless night on Thursday at his home in nearby Brightwater.
The out of control Pigeon Valley fire, which had a major flareup, was visible on the ridge in front of their house.
'When I came home it was full on, you could hardly see the sun. It was blood orange.'
He said the fire was visible 500 metres from the road.
Later Thursday night they received the Civil Defence alert, asking people to be prepared to evacuate.
'We had the car packed with the most important items, the cat and the chickens.
'Once the red disappeared off the horizon, we went to sleep.'
When he arrived at the cafe on Friday morning, he found pieces of ash and burnt pine needles strewn across the property.
They had plenty of offers of accommodation if they needed to evacuate.
Meissner took a few boxes of pies and juice over to the Wakefield Fire Station on Friday morning.
'We will shout dinner for the fire crews once this is over.'
A Nelson hospital spokeswoman has confirmed that a man was admitted overnight on Thursday due to smoke.The man is currently in a stable condition.
A layer of smoke blanketed the Nelson region on Friday morning with the haze visible in central Nelson.
The smoke got even thicker heading towards Wakefield, a small town south of Nelson whose residents had been given notice they needed to be ready to evacuate overnight.
At Spring Grove, just outside Wakefield on State Highway 6, several helicopters with monsoon buckets were working to fight the fire.
The speed limit along the highway has been reduced to 50km leading into Wakefield due to poor visibility from the smoke.
Pigeon Valley Rd, Simmonds Rd and Arnold Lane were all closed.
Residents of Pigeon Valley were asked to leave their homes due to the weather conditions and heavy smoke about midday on Friday.
In Wakefield, ash is floating around and the smoke is now hanging heavy over the town.
Some residents have self-evacuated, while others are at home with their windows and doors closed in a bid to keep the smoke and ash out.
It's hard to see anything more than silhouetted ridgelines, but there is the constant thrum of helicopters working overhead.
Jamiee Palmer has a front row view of the action. The Windlesham Place resident can see the Wakefield Fire Station from her front yard.
Palmer said she was feeling fine but she hoped firefighters were able to get the blaze under control soon.
On Thursday night firemen visited her house and suggested watering the gutters and removing any dry material such as leaves.
'I got a bit nervous when they came and told us to damp everything down and pack a bag.
'Not that we were in the line of fire, because the wind could blow ash and embers and start something.'
She said early on Friday morning the sky was clear, but the smoke had increased by 10am and had blanketed the town an hour later.
'I usually go out for a walk but I don't want to take the kids out in this.
'Palmer said she had been in contact with most of her neighbours and she knew of some who had chosen to self-evacuate.
'The whole street is quite close, everyone keeps everyone informed.'
Her husband worked for Taylor's Contracting and had spent most of the night working to create fire breaks in a bid to slow the fire down.