Dry conditions and high winds creating 'extreme' fire risk in Christchurch
Tuesday, 19 January 2021
Fire crews will fight any blazes in Christchurch “aggressively” as dry conditions lead to an increased number of fires in the Port Hills.
Twenty properties near Cass Bay were evacuated on Tuesday as three helicopters with monsoon buckets battled a fire that burned through 15 hectares of scrub in the hills above. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
The fire was contained by 5.30pm and residents were able to return home.
The blaze was one of several in Canterbury on Tuesday as strong winds of up to 130kmh fanned flames, lifted roofs, and damaged trees.
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Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) assistant area commander Mike Bowden said scrub growth and dry conditions had compounded the problem on the Port Hills, which had already had “several reasonable-scale fires” this summer.
A fire caused by fireworks on December 11 burned through 25 to 30ha of scrub on the city side of the hills. A few days, later a spark from construction work caused another fire nearby, which spread across about 16ha of grass and gorse.
MetService said strong winds were also forecast on Wednesday, but would start to die out on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 20s for the rest of the week, before highs increase to the mid 20s at the weekend.
The Port Hills were a “significant risk” to Christchurch and firefighters would attack any future fires “aggressively”, Bowden said.
“We want people to exercise the utmost caution.”
The Cass Bay fire, which started about 1.30pm, burned along the ridge line to Corsair Bay.
Three helicopters and five ground crews worked to extinguish the flames at the fire’s peak.
Lyttelton-Governors Bay Rd (Park Tce) was closed between Corsair Bay and Rapaki, but reopened about 5.30pm.
Tim and Linda Hennessy were driving back to their home in Wainui, in Akaroa Habour, when they were stopped by the road closure near Cass Bay earlier in the afternoon.
“We thought it was weird that there was a haze, then we could smell the smoke,” Linda Hennessy said.
“I thought, ‘oh my God, not again’. It’s just a reminder of a few years ago.”
In February 2017, a huge blaze destroyed several homes and burnt through 1600ha of land on the Port Hills.
Bowden said firefighters faced the “worst possible weather conditions” on Tuesday, and there were multiple incidents across the region, which was a “real drain on resources”.
A fire was reported at Loburn, near Rangiora in North Canterbury, and a small blaze damaged several cars at the Morrison Avenue Reserve in Northcote, Christchurch, about 1pm.
The strong winds also caused corrugated roofs to be torn from several buildings, and broke branches off trees in Halswell and in the central city.
Wind also blew over an in-construction concrete wall at the Chinese Consulate in Upper Riccarton in the early afternoon.
Fenz principal rural fire officer Bruce Janes said the strong winds made the fires difficult to combat.
Canterbury is in a restricted fire season, meaning a permit is needed for all open-air fires.
Janes urged anyone with a fire permit to hold off burning until the conditions eased.
He also urged anyone who recently had a fire to check it was completely out, and encouraged people to think twice about using braziers, gas cookers or carrying out farming activities that could cause a spark.