'Crack and bang' heard during landslide in Auckland's Muriwai, firefighter missing
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
A resident has described a “very big crack and bang” as a landslide crushed a house in West Auckland.
One firefighter is in a critical condition and there are “grave concerns” for another who is missing after the incident in Muriwai as Cyclone Gabrielle smashed the region.
A crew from a volunteer fire brigade was investigating flooding in a house on Motutara Rd, when the house they were at was hit by a landslide and the house collapsed.
Two firefighters were trapped.
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One was rescued early on Tuesday morning and was in a critical condition in hospital, while the other remained missing on Tuesday morning, Fire and Emergency chief executive Kerry Gregory said.
A full rescue operation was initiated as soon as the landslide occurred, involving 10 crews from seven brigades and including Urban Search and Rescue, police and St John.
The rescue operation was suspended while the area was made safe despite “grave concerns” for the trapped firefighter, Gregory said.
Officials said on Tuesday afternoon that the search for the missing volunteer firefighter had resumed, after a geotechnical survey.
Meanwhile on Tuesday morning, building assessors were assembling at Muriwai to begin assessing affected homes for damage.
Red and yellow stickers would be issued as needed over the course of the morning, Auckland Emergency Management said.
Eva Mueller, who lives a street over from Motutara Rd, said she was shaken by a loud noise in the night.
“We heard a very big crack and bang sound and of course we didn't know what it was, but obviously it would have been that slip and trees and the house coming down,” she said.
She then got an emergency notification saying she and other residents should go to the local Surf Life Saving Club.
“I walked down there and there [were] lots and lots of people there. Then we heard that several people lost their houses and everything and one fireman was [missing].
“It's just so sad.”
About 200 residents stayed at the surf club overnight, Mueller said.
Muriwai resident Debbie Wong told Radio NZ she lived two doors up from the house where the firefighter was trapped. She was evacuated in the middle of the night and saw a landslide coming down as she left her home.
'When I got rescued we ended up on the road because we heard another slip coming down, it was pretty horrendous what I saw.'
She spent the night at the surf club with 'about 300 people' and didn't know if her own home had made it through the night.
'I'm just hoping my house is all right and I'm just glad I'm alive,' she said.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Auckland union secretary Martin Campbell said“it’s devastating news to the whole community”.
”Our thoughts and wishes go to families and brigade members. I know the [Fire and Emergency] welfare team, they are a professional team and will be getting themselves in high gear providing the wrap around support that the Muriwai Volunteer Fire Brigade and its members need.”
Gregory said it was “too dangerous” to be in the vicinity on Monday night.
'It was just too dangerous, the hills were moving, the rain was driving in there and the whole street has been evacuated.”
A geotechnical assessment of the area would be carried out “as soon as possible” so decisions could be made about resuming the search.
Speaking about the injuries, Gregory said there was “a big concern” for the critically injured firefighter as “with any crush injury, it becomes very risky when a person is released after being trapped for a period”.
“Our thoughts are with our firefighters and with their loved ones,” Gregory said.
“We are also providing support to the other members of their brigade.
“This is a very difficult time for them, and for every member of Fire and Emergency NZ when we are also focused on responding to the continuing need in so many communities across the North Island today.”
Police have cordoned off the roads into Muriwai and are turning people away.
From 3am to 4am, there were 55 storm-related call-outs for firefighters across the upper North Island, bringing the total for the previous 12 hours to 867.
Of the 55 incidents logged between 3-4am, nine were in Northland, 12 in Auckland, 12 in Waikato, three in Bay of Plenty and 19 in Hawke’s Bay.
Surf Life Saving northern region operations manager James Lea said the whole Motutara Rd area was affected by the weather overnight.
“They needed to evacuate and the Surf Life Saving Club was high and dry,” Lea said.
About 100 people took shelter at the club and were set to transported back inland on Tuesday to safety, Lea said.
Muriwai residents Mary-Ann Paterson and Jane Scott said they jumped into the back of an NZDF truck to get to the Waimauku War Memorial Hall along a 'scary' cliff top journey.
'They couldn't stay on one side of the road, they were sort of travelling down the middle of the road and there was [sic] trees down and wind,' Paterson said.
They are now hunkered down at the Trusts Arena in Auckland which is acting as a Civil Defence evacuation centre.
'I went a bit numb and just focused on what I had to do to survive,' Paterson said.
He urged people to stay away from the coast and rivers.
Colonel Mel Childs said 30 Defence Force personnel and vehicles were assisting in Muriwai overnight, providing emergency supplies and evacuation to the Surf Life Saving Club.
Childs said the Defence Force would now be assisting with transporting those from the club to emergency Civil Defence centres.
Councillor for Waitākere Shane Henderson said there was an influx of Muriwai residents arriving at the Trusts Arena, which is being used as an emergency evacuation centre.
There are about 30 people there at the moment, Henderson said.
Henderson urged people to ring 0800 22 22 00 if anyone needed help or shelter.