Firefighters mopping up 350 hectare blaze

Monday, 6 January 2020

Residents near Napier have been allowed to return to their homes after firefighters contained a 350 hectare forest fire which began on Monday morning.

With the blaze at Tangoio not yet been extinguished, crews will return to the site tomorrow to continue mopping up activities, which are expected to last several more days. 

Two forestry crews will continue to monitor the area overnight.

On Tuesday about 70 firefighters battled the fire.

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Seven helicopters and two planes worked on 'water bombing' activities and retardant lines were set up to reduce the speed of the fire.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said the fire had been heading in a north-east direction, but there was a predicted wind change later on Tuesday.

'The wind is coming from a more southerly direction which might change things a bit, but we'd rather it wasn't windy,' he said.

'The wind has been the main issue with the fire spread.'

Incident controller Trevor Mitchell said the team was very grateful to the Salvation Army, which has a trailer on site preparing food for the firefighters.

The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.

'THE HOUSE IS SAFE'

Peter Boyce, who was evacuated from his home yesterday afternoon, thanked fire fighters for their strong communication and said he had been kept well-informed of the progress from fire teams. 

'The house is safe and the fires are being controlled well, we're hoping to be back in the house by tomorrow if all goes well,' he said.

Another resident who didn't wish to named said the fire was about 50m from their property, but they 'weren't concerned' due to the wind conditions.

'We've got everything packed up and ready to go in case we need to leave, but the wind is blowing in the other direction keeping the fire away from the house and we're quite safe,' she said.

'It got really bad at about midnight, it was a really long night. I've only had a few hours sleep. The power was off this morning and the smoke was all thick around our house.' 

'The flames were huge yesterday and the smoke was a real dark brown, but today looks a lot better.' 

The fire had also moved into a forestry block belonging to Pan Pac, affecting about 200ha.

FORESTRY BLOCK SMOULDERING

Pan Pac managing director Doug Ducker said the fire at the block had been contained but areas were still smouldering.

About 40 staff and contractors were assisting fire and emergency to dampen hot spots. It was expected they would need to continue monitoring the situation for about three of four more days, he said.

The Metservice recorded wind speeds of up to 78km an hour at Hawke's Bay Airport yesterday afternoon, but said the westerly winds would have been stronger in coastal areas. 

Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said wind conditions would still remain gusty with south-westerlies hitting speeds of 30-40km an hour throughout Tuesday. 

'The gusts could reach up to 45-50km an hour this morning until the afternoon and as the evening goes on they're expected to drop,' she said. 

Firefighters had struggled to control which began after 11am on Monday morning. 

Ron Middleton, a forestry contractor in the area and member of the Heretaunga voluntary rural fire force had been fighting the fire since early Tuesday morning.

He said a fire break had been cut by bulldozers around the nearest house, on Tangoio Settlement Rd, but he felt the fire was largely contained.

'It's still flaring up in places but yeah, we're battling it,' he said.

He said his crew had been told they would likely need to keep mopping up areas until the end of the week.

A resident who has lived on Tangoio Settlement Rd for eleven years said he could see the flames from his house.

'It's been a bit smokey, but we're not worried at this stage, we spoke to the fire chief last night, so we are well informed of what's going on.'

Ducker said an estimated 200ha of the company's Shinoda Forest, planted with five-year-old trees, had been affected.

'No Pan Pac structures have been impacted.'

'The fire is still smouldering and we estimate it will take another three to four days to eliminate the hot spots in the area.' 

'The fire continues to burn on neighbouring land. We appreciate all those who have worked to control this fire in difficult conditions, including FENZ and around 40 Pan Pac employees and contractors,' he said.

CALL TO HELP WILDLIFE

Officer for the Hawke's Bay Bird and Wildlife Rescue Charitable Trust, Liv Flynn, urged those in the area to look out for injured or dehydrated wildlife.

'There's a lot of wildlife out that way, goats, boars and birds, if anyone comes across an injured animal please take them to your nearest vet and we will assist where we can,' Flynn said. 

'If you do come across any birds/wildlife on the ground panting or in distress please call the wildlife phone number on 021 0239 1194 or email hbresq@gmail.com about any concerns you may have.' 

Flynn said officers would go and inspect the area themselves once they were given the all clear by the NZ fire teams at the scene. 

On Monday night the fire was at 140ha, and Hawke's Bay NZ Fire area commander Ken Cooper told Stuff the fire was 'not under control' and aerial operations will be working to contain the blaze until 9pm.

The Bayview volunteer brigade was called out to Tangoio in the early hours of Tuesday morning to assist with exposure protection. An update on the Facebook page explained the sirens were necessary for the 5am call to 'reach/alert all our volleys'.

The Tangoio area is in a restricted fire season and has a 'moderate' fire risk according to the FENZ website.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council climate scientist Dr Kathleen Kozyniak said last month's rainfall at that station was 87 per cent of its average December rainfall.

'Anything within 80 per cent is considered within the 'normal range'.  It follows a dry November, which saw the (nearest weather) station receive only 41 per cent of the November average rainfall,' she said. 

'The last time it had some decent rain was Christmas and Boxing Day (about 23mm total). Soil moisture isn't looking too bad though in term of typical levels for the time of year.'

Kozyniak said the current soil temperature was sitting at approximately 24 per cent - the January average would be about 15 per cent (dating back to 2011).

'Things might be a touch drier towards the coast where the fire is,' she said.