A Waipukurau family’s near-new farm shed was reduced to ashes after a generator is thought to have ignited hay.
A Waipukurau family’s near-new farm shed was reduced to ashes after a generator is thought to have ignited hay.
Waipukurau woman Ashley Jevon-Dalgaard was bedecked in pink sparkles at a birthday party when she answered a friend’s phone.
Moments later she was out of the house in a borrowed vehicle racing for home.
On the other end of the phone a voice had told her “we’ve been trying to get hold of you, your house is on fire”.
Ashley got home to find her home was safe: “But our near-new shed was in a blazing heap and my husband was being hosed down by firefighters”.
Her husband Brian had attempted to rescue the family’s caravan from the inferno and a tree that spanned the couple’s house. He used a hose to dampen the ruined caravan and the tree, but suffered moderate burns to one leg in the process.
The couple also lost their boat, horse equipment, two water tanks and 1100 bales of hay that were to be sold to finance a long-awaited trip to the UK and Denmark, to visit family they had not seen for 12 years.
“We’re gutted,” Ashey says. “We brought that hay in on the hottest day of the summer. It was a hellish job but it was going to be worth it.
The destroyed hay bales were to have financed the family on a trip to visit relatives overseas.
“The shed was only two months old and we hadn’t yet insured it. That’s the kicker. Because of the bad weather it had taken us two years to complete the build, and in that time all our tools and gear was in a shipping container or under trees.
“It had been brilliant to get the shed finished and everything under cover.”
By the end of that Saturday night, however, all Ashley Jevon-Dalgaard was able to do was “sit there in my pink sparkles, have a glass of wine and watch our shed burn”.
The couple think the March 16 fire was started by a spark from a generator, as Brian was about to start some welding - a good distance from the shed as he was aware of the fire risk. By the time he saw smoke from the generator the hay was already alight.
For the Central Hawke’s Bay volunteer fire brigades it was the second hay and implement shed fire they had attended that Saturday.
A Takapau shed had met a similar fate earlier in the day, leaving the owner, Tracey Rian, devastated but causing no injuries.
Tracey says “I hope no one ever has to see how incredibly fast a fire can be. Quite unbelievable.
“My heartfelt thanks go out to all that assisted me with my haybarn fire: Takapau Fire brigade, Ashley Clinton, Ongaonga brigades - you guys are amazing, Justin King’s help with his extending tractor saved the day and William Taylor’s his awesome help with the cleanup.
“I have had support from people I didn’t even know before the fire.”
Waipukurau volunteer fire brigade chief fire officer Steve Walker sent a reminder to Central Hawke’s Bay residents, as the district moved into a prohibited fire season this week.
“Unfortunately lately we’ve had a run of shed and hay shed fires and people have lost a lot of stock feed amongst other possessions like boats, lawnmowers and caravans,” he said.
The Takapau hayshed fire destroyed the structure and all it contained.
“Please be very mindful of what you’re doing around your sheds, whether it be mowing lawns, welding or any sort of machinery work, as sparks can go along way.
“Leave your lawn mower outside the shed to let it cool down before putting it away. Make sure you do any sort of machinery work well away from your sheds or dry grass and do not store wet hay bales or silage in a shed as this can cause combustion and it will ignite.
“Hay is a very volatile combustible, it can take as little as a bit of carbon dropping from a hot exhaust and away it goes.
“Both of these recent sheds were burned to the ground ... This is hard on the families and property owners, it’s not just the shed, it’s the family’s posessions as well.”
Walker says a fire of this type is a “long duration fire”.
“The Waipukurau fire call came in just after 4pm and we weren’t back at the fire station until after 10pm. It’s not a simple fire to put out ... we have to protect other buildings and trees before we can contain the fire, then we work on extinguishing it. We don’t leave until we are satisfied the fire is out.
“Water sources are a big issue, we have to find a large quantity of water - potentially a dam - or ferry water to the site with tankers.
“We advise anyone building rurally to think about protecting their water supply, installing their tanks at least 6m away from a dwelling or shed to protect them from melting during a blaze.”
The owners of both sheds have heaped praise on local firefighters, dubbing them “amazing”.
Both have also praised neighbours and community who rallied to help.
Ashley Jevon-Dalgaard says “neighbours helped on the night - dragging the hay out with tractors so it could be hosed down. Then they came back in the following days with tractors and trailers to help bury the burned hay. Friends have been out and physically helped, and another friend started a Givealittle page which will give us a chance to make a start again.
“It’s very humbling and we are really grateful. If the fire hadn’t been contained as quickly as it was it could have been much worse.”
Last Saturday was another busy one for the fire brigades, as they battled a vegetation fire off Pōrangahau Rd in Waipukurau which started just before 9am in “deep-seated grass” with firefighters on the scene for about three hours extinguishing and dampening it down.
Firefighters were called to Waipukurau Skate Park late the same night, and extinguished a fire in a rubbish bin. The incident happened just before midnight.
Walker says the community needs to be aware of the current restricted fire season and the risks posed by long grass and dry conditions, with no substantial rain predicted for the next two months.
