Three scrub fires in Canterbury out, two still ablaze in dangerous conditions

Monday, 3 February 2020

Helicopters using monsoon buckets dump water on a large fire north of Rangiora on February 3, 2020.

Dozens of firefighters will remain at the scene of two large scrub fires overnight that are burning through riverbanks in bone-dry Canterbury.

Firefighters battled five large vegetation fires across the region on Monday, including one about 100 hectares large. Two were in Loburn near Rangiora, one in Prebbleton, one in Hurunui and another in Chertsey, near Ashburton.

The region continued to swelter on Monday, with gusty northwesterlies and hot temperatures. Christchurch reached about 30 degrees Celsius and Ashburton hit 34C.

A helicopter with a monsoon bucket prepares to dump water on a large fire at Loburn, North Canterbury.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman said on Monday evening five helicopters battled the two fires near Loburn by the Ashley River bank. Nearly 80 firefighters were in trucks on the ground.

**READ MORE:

A helicopter flies through smoke caused by a large fire at Loburn, North Canterbury.

* Blazes sparked in 'very dangerous' fire conditions

* South Island of two halves: Canterbury sizzles as heavy rain pelts West Coast

The charred remains of scrub after a fire by the Ashley River as flames ripped through the area on Monday.

* Ongoing downpours put Central Otago and West Coast on flood watch**

An uncomfortable warm night once again for many parts of the country. There would have been a lot of fans ventilating bedrooms as temperatures at 6am were in the low 20's in many places. We especially feel for Cantabrians as Christchurch recorded 26-27C for much of last night.^AB pic.twitter.com/zxAYKPoEWZ

Firefighters battled the blazes by the Ashley River on Monday as temperatures reached about 30 degrees Celsius.

Firefighters are bracing for the 'trifecta of danger' as dry, hot and windy conditions are set to combine.

— MetService (@MetService) February 2, 2020

On Monday evening both fires were contained, but not thought to be under control.

At 10.30pm, Fenz southern communications shift manager Simon Lyford said three crews would monitor the fires overnight while the rest were on a well-deserved break to recharge before going back to duty the next day.

He said the next stages of fighting the flames would all depend on the wind.

One blaze near the Ashley River burned through 100 hectares of scrub, another burned through 12ha.

The first blaze in Loburn was off Dunlops Rd by the Ashley River, which had been burning since 3.30pm on Sunday and flared up overnight, forcing crews to pull back because of dangerous conditions.

The blaze was burning through nearly 100ha of scrub, the Fenz spokesman said.

Canterbury remains one of the driest regions in the country so far this year.

A separate fire that started about 5.45am on Monday was burning through scrub off River Rd.

The fire was burning through about 12 hectares of scrub and spread to a small plantation.

No properties were damaged in either blaze.

Once the fires were under control, it could take several days to extinguish them.

The extreme fire risk was not expected to improve until Tuesday afternoon, with cooler temperatures and rain settling in.

Fenz was working with Environment Canterbury to protect a nearby bird sanctuary in the Ashley River.

BLAZES OUT

Further north, fire crews were called to a blaze in the Tekoa Range in the Hurunui district about 4.40am.

The blaze in Cascade Rd was burning a paddock and a dry river bed and was about 14ha in total, a Fenz spokeswoman said. Firefighters left the scene about 11.30am.

About 5am in Prebbleton, a fire burned through about 500sqm of scrub on Blakes Rd. The fire was out by 7am.

Crews fought yet another scrub fire in Chertsey, near State Highway 1, between Ashburton and Rakaia about 2.40pm which was 30ha large. The fire was out by 4pm.

MetService spokesman Andy Best said most of the South Island would be shrouded in smoke from the Australian bushfires.

The smoke was expected to stay over the island until late on Tuesday when a southerly front was expected to dissipate the smoke.

Anyone notice 🙋‍♂️ the recent vibrant sunrises or sunsets? Yesterday & this morning we had another surge of smoke from the #AustralianFires move overhead.

Here's a satellite animation from yesterday & this morning. Most of the smoke is now east of New Zealand. pic.twitter.com/hj3yFaMNa3

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) February 2, 2020

Canterbury remains one of the driest regions in the country so far this year. Over the past 30 days, North Canterbury has received just 1.2 millimetres of rain, Christchurch 3.2mm and Ashburton only 6.4mm – far below the January average of about 28mm.

Since January 25, a prohibited fire season has been in place for Christchurch, Hurunui, Selwyn and Waimakariri districts.

All open air fires will be prohibited but gas-operated appliances, barbecues, wood-fire pizza ovens, hāngi and umu less than 2 metres in size are allowed.

The Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago areas are in a total fire ban, meaning no fires can be lit and all fire permits are suspended until further notice. Activities that might cause sparks such as grinding, welding, road-side mowing, chainsaws, and fireworks are prohibited.

Fire permits are also suspended in Clutha and Coastal Otago.