Fire and Emergency New Zealand community risk manager Hamish Smith. Video / Andrew Warner
Hawke’s Bay is moving into a restricted fire season.
Temperatures hit 30C in parts of the region yesterday and Fire and Emergency NZ is now imposing a number of restrictions and bans on the “rapidly” drying region.
Starting from 8am today, rural and coastal Wairoa, Mahia Peninsula, Heretaunga/Ahuriri, Hawke’s Bay Coast, Pahīatua, Eketāhuna, and West, South, and Central Tararua move to a restricted fire season.
During this period, people intending to light an outdoor fire must obtain approval through a fire permit issued by Fenz.
East Tararua faces an “extremely high fire risk” and moves to a prohibited fire season as of 8am.
“The areas going to a restricted fire season are drying out rapidly with the warm, dry weather, and this means vegetation fires will start more easily, spread more rapidly and be more difficult to control,” Fenz Hawke’s Bay community risk manager Nigel Hall said.
”There are also challenges in controlling vegetation fires due to water sources like creeks now running underground, and farm dams affected by Cyclone Gabrielle running low on water.”
According to MetService, Monday, Saturday and Sunday were set to see the mercury hit 31C, with a brief reprieve of lower temperatures in the 20s during the week.
Yesterday, according to the Fenz fire indices map, Pōrangahau and most of the Tararua district were at “extreme” fire risk (scrub, forest and grass), and parts of Central Hawke’s Bay and Crownthorpe were at high risk.
Dry weather, wind gusts and hot temperatures mean people should be aware of the risk of wildfires. Photo / Warren Buckland
MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said changing winds would bring cooler temperatures during the week, but El Nino’s unusual weather patterns could continue to show some variation and fire danger conditions will remain volatile.
“The dry conditions and warm temperatures we have been seeing about eastern regions tie directly into the stronger west to northwesterly winds which have been coming and going this summer,” she said.
“Regular southerly wind changes have offered respite to the temperatures, but the associated precipitation has not been enough to reverse the drying effect – so despite the winds easing, the fire danger remains a concern. With El Nino, we do get stronger and more frequent winds from the west in summer, which is where the fluctuation comes in.”
While the nearby Tararua District had both a wind watch and increased fire risk in force yesterday, O’Connor said the gusts weren’t likely to be as strong for wider Hawke’s Bay throughout the week.
“Winds are more sort of northwest and will flick around to a southerly on Tuesday before the day gets a chance to heat up.”
She said the wind wouldn’t be as strong as they were in Canterbury, where a fire continues to rage in the Port Hills in Canterbury.
There have been numerous large rural fires in Hawke’s Bay in the past, including, most recently, in 2020, the Tangoio forest fire, which spread over as much as 3.5 sq km.
A devastating grass fire in 2017 across the Tukituki Valley also saw residents evacuated and houses directly threatened by the fire that razed a house.
Conditions were hot and windy, and a state of emergency was declared when the fire had burnt 50ha of grassland and was still spreading.
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.
