Lake Ōhau fire destroys over 5000ha and leaves 46 homes uninhabitable

Monday, 5 October 2020

Firefighters will work through the night to deal with any flare-ups after a massive fire at Lake Ōhau ripped through 5360 hectares and damaged 46 homes.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) incident controller Rob Hands said a drone equipped with an infrared camera would be deployed on Monday night to look for hotspots along the perimeter of the fire.

The fire erupted early Sunday and quickly spread through the lakeside village, located near Twizel in the Waitaki Basin.

It was contained on Monday, but crews would work through the night to deal with any flare-ups threatening properties that escaped damage on Sunday, Hands said. Helicopters and ground crews would be back at work at first light.

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Earlier on Monday, Fenz incident controller Graeme Still told media on a tour of the Lake Ōhau Village that the fire was the biggest in terms of destruction in his 40 years of firefighting.

Fenz Te Kei region manager Mike Grant said it had been a huge firefighting effort.

'You have to be really on the button,'' he said.

He said gullies around the hills acted like a chimney, which meant there was very little fire suppression.

'When we get into areas where the standing trees are, we're talking 50, 80, 100 tonne per hectare, what that does is increases the intensity of fire and makes it more difficult to suppress.”

Still earlier revealed the fight against the blaze was going well.

'The fire is what we call contained, and we're on top of it, but never say never with these winds.”

The media bus tour followed an announcement that the Government would provide $100,000 as an initial contribution to help those affected by the fire.

Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare announced the fund as he offered his thoughts to residents.

'What we've just witnessed is completely devastating for the people of this community,'' he said.

'All of the feedback we've had from Fenz is that this is a significant event.

'We will work closely with the mayor here and the Waitaki District Council on an ongoing basis and will assess their need and step in and support where we can.'

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage acknowledged the 'devastating loss' for residents and those who had homes in Lake Ōhau.

She described seeing cars “with melted tyres, bunk bed frames and houses completely gone”.

About 1800ha of conservation land had been affected by the fire.

She said land management 'had to be looked at' given the changing climate.

“We need to be fire smart in the future.'

Waitaki District mayor Gary Kircher described the event as “absolutely devastating” for the community, but said a lot of people were already talking about rebuilding.

It was a “minor miracle” no-one was harmed.

“The reality is that another 15 or 20 minutes could've been a very different story.'

Kircher had already heard several stories of heroism, including a man who woke up to his dog about 3am on Sunday.

“He went out opened the door and just saw a wall of orange coming towards the village, he shot down and turned on the village alarm and that helped get a lot of people out of bed and then the residents went door to door making sure that everyone was aware and able to get out.

'Actions like that which have helped save lives.'

Kircher said the community’s response showed some “pretty good presence of thought”.

“It's a testament to the plan the community had for such an event … they were well-prepared, they've done their practices.”

Graham Smith, mayor of the neighbouring Mackenzie district, said the Twizel community's support for homeowners affected by the fire was 'absolutely wonderful'.

'Over 100 people ended up staying in Twizel from Lake Ōhau village overnight.

'This fire is in Waitaki's patch, but it's a much larger fire than the one in Pukaki a few weeks ago. That one stretched about 300ha, this one has spread about 1600ha.”

Smith said some farmers had lost stock, and many homes were destroyed.

'It's a huge loss,' he said.

MetService spokeswoman Melissa Oosterwijk said gusts in the area overnight Sunday reached 60kmh to 65kmh and there was no rainfall.

MetService issued a strong wind warning for the Canterbury High Country from 10am Monday to 9am Tuesday.

At 6.40am, nearby Lake Pukaki was already at 16 degrees Celsius.

‘Monstrous orange maelstrom’

Those behind a Lake Ōhau bed and breakfast business confirmed in a Facebook post on Monday that they had lost their home.

The Barn at Killin said the family running the business was safe and were being looked after by friends.

Owner Hugh Spiers told Stuff the experience was like a lot of horror movies rolled into one.

“The smoke, the heat, the sparks and the unknowing, but yet in the back of your mind, there's a glimmer of hope going 'oh, this will be alright in the morning’.

“But it's not.”

The Facebook post said the family’s “home & business and a lifetime of memories are gone apart from the clothes on our backs”.

“Sleep escapes me and I can’t get rid of the taste of smoke from my mouth or close my eyes without seeing a monstrous orange maelstrom roaring towards us.”

The post thanked friends, the community and guests from across the world for their messages of support.

Spiers said he was trying to keep a positive attitude after the blaze.

“Where's my glasses, where's my watch, where's my wallet, it's all burnt,' he said.

“You can't buy undies in Twizel … you can buy socks, but you can't buy undies.”

Help for residents

The Waitaki Emergency Operations Centre was working with those affected by the fire to ascertain their needs over the coming days and weeks.

Three busloads of property owners were taken see the damage for themselves on Monday afternoon, while residents who needed to retrieve essential items from undamaged properties would be able to register to be escorted to and from their homes from Tuesday.

The managed access would be for urgent essential purposes, such as tradespeople retrieving tools or people needing medication.

The access would be available between 10am and 2pm provided conditions are safe for entry, Hands said. Residents will be transported in and out in a Fire and Emergency vehicle.

'We appreciate how anxious people are to return home, or to retrieve personal possessions. We are providing escorted access as an interim step,” Hands said.

Affected residents were being provided with meal vouchers, access to emergency medication and everyone was given accommodation on Sunday night.

Incident controller Murray Linwood praised those affected for their evacuation effort.

He also thanked the Mackenzie and Waitaki communities for their offers of support.

Coastguard support

About 10 Coastguard volunteers from Tekapo and Twizel spent a gruelling 12 hours on the wind-ravaged Lake Ōhau on Sunday, with the same numbers returning to the water at first light on Monday to continue supporting helicopters fighting the blaze.

Coastguard Southern regional manager Cheryl Moffat said they were looking at bringing in a relief crew from other parts of the South Island to take over the two boats on the lake watching over helicopter pilots.

'It's pretty hard on the volunteers, because the wind is strong and the lake is very rough,’’ she said.

The wind had caused waves of up to 4 metres in some parts of the lake.

'They're happy to do it to help the community. But they've been out there two days, and potentially we'll need to be out there for another day. We need to think about their health.'

CAUSE OF FIRE NOT YET KNOWN

Network Waitaki chief executive Geoff Douch said the lines company had been 'flat out' trying to help Ōhau locals and work with Fenz and other agencies involved.

'Any speculation on the cause [of the fire] is just that, speculation. We are working hard helping Fenz in their investigations,' he said.