Helicopters and fire crews return to Hampton Downs landfill blaze

Monday, 1 April 2019

Fiona Robertson can taste the smoke from burning rubbish on her tongue. 

Smoke has hung around her lifestyle block like thick fog since mid morning on Sunday, around the same time firefighters were alerted to a blaze at the country's biggest landfill. 

While the smoke was initially reported to be potentially toxic, Fire and Emergency NZ has said it's no longer being treated as hazardous. 

Four appliances, four water pumps, four tankers and two helicopters returned to the Hampton Downs site on Monday morning, after leaving the fire overnight, Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) northern communications shift manager Scott Osmond said.

READ MORE: Chemical risk from landfill fire

It's expected to take days to completely extinguish. 

Crews were called to the rubbish fire at Hampton Downs around 10am on Sunday. 

It's been contained to an area that receives general household waste and demolition material, so there were initial concerns about the fumes locals could be inhaling. 

A lot of the current cloud is steam, a statement from FENZ said. It predicted that a couple hours of rain should be enough to clean roofs. 

'Continue to keep downpipes to your water tanks closed. The water currently in your tanks should be safe to drink.' 

Robertson, a Pukekawa resident, has had her house closed up for more than a day, to keep out the smoke hanging thickly in the air. It began making her cough and her skin itch. 

Other locals have complained of stinging eyes and bad asthma. 

The landfill doesn't smell good at the best of times, but she worries fumes from the burning waste could be affecting their health. 

'We didn't ask for this and there's nothing we can do,' Robertson said. 'They need to investigate and find out who is responsible for the fire in the first place. 

'And they need to be public and open and transparent about it.'

A lot of people in the area are bull or sheep farmers. Others grow lettuce or fruit.  

'It's not only us it's going to affect … Those crops could well be affected as well.'

Another Pukekawa resident, Bernadette Collins, said the smoke was 'unbelievable'. 

Her eyes were left stinging and the smell of smoke has lingered in her home. 

'It looked quite horrendous at the fire source … The sky was like it was cloudy.'

There has been no run off from the site into nearby waterways, Waikato District Council said in a statement on Sunday night.

The fire isn't in an area which receives restricted asbestos material. 

On Sunday, FENZ warned residents within 10km downwind of the fire to keep their doors and windows closed and to stay inside, to prevent breathing in smoke. 

By Monday, a lot of the smoke had dissipated. 

'There shouldn't be any major problems,' Osmond said. 'There aren't many houses around.' 

Council will continue to liaise with landfill staff. 

EnviroWaste couldn't be reached for comment.