Long hours for weary firefighters battling Hawke's Bay blazes

HARD WORK: Hastings Fire Service firefighter Colin Beswick was appreciative fire conditions had eased at Waimarama Rd yesterday. Photo Warren Buckland

Weary fire crews started to see some light at the end of the tunnel yesterday, having successfully contained the Waimarama Rd fire by last night and keeping watching briefs on other wildfires that lit up the region over the past two days.

One of those firefighters was Hastings Fire Service's Colin Beswick, a veteran of 38 years who had seen plenty of blazes in his time, but admitted the last couple of weeks had been testing.

The Waimarama Rd fire that broke out on Monday followed a string of vegetation fires, but certainly upped the ante, Mr Beswick said.

"We have been coming in at lunchtime and not getting home until 10pm.

"I can't remember the station being so empty over the whole of this last year," he said referring to the fact that all vehicles and crews were out on the job.

Things really kicked off with the Raukawa fire, followed by the one at Colin White Rd, one at Puketitiri and then Waimarama Rd.

The Waimarama Rd proved to be the most challenging and exhausting for fire crews that were on the ground battling with the terrain and high winds, he said.

"The wind was blowing so much that gusts would knock you forward every five to 10 minutes - it was relentless - and the 34C temperatures dried you out."

Navigating the hillsides on slippery grass "that was like silk" added to the difficulty, and even with his experience he said he was surprised how fast the fire spread.

Then there was the issue of empty hoses flicking around in the wind.

When water was accessible and going through them, multiple personnel were stationed along the hoseline digging in on the hillside, taking it in shifts while others rested up and got something to drink and eat.

Efforts were made to rotate staff every four hours, but that depended on what was happening and the number of people working at one time, Mr Beswick said.

When it got to the point that it was impossible to get water pumped to some areas, the helicopters took over.

Some of these were taking water from swimming pools "buzzing in like bees around a honey pot" as well as taking water from the Tukituki River where diggers had excavated a hole to access more water.

While on the hillside he said cow pats and fence posts were burning up in front of them.

"There were whirlpools of fire and sparks going in the air and fire creates its own draught - fences were fallen over with the wooden posts burnt off at ground level as the fire acted like a blowtorch and burnt them right through."

He said it was lucky there had not been much stock in the paddocks beforehand so there was little cow manure around to add to the combustible material.

Meanwhile, he said the public had been awesome in showing their appreciation for the firefighters' efforts, dropping off food that had helped out with the extra crews on board, and going out of their way to praise the team's efforts.