Napier beach fires mar well behaved New Year's Eve

Crews at two separate fires on the beachfront between Napier and Awatoto. Photo / Doug Laing

Firefighters have done a near-annual New Year's Day post-dawn sweep of Napier's Marine Parade foreshore to extinguish the remnants of overnight fires posing dangers on Napier's beaches.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand Napier station officer Mike Manning said crews from a tanker and two appliances – one from Napier and one from Hastings – extinguished "five or six" fires.

Two were spreading into driftwood and foreshore grass, all posed burn risks for people stepping on stones that could hold the heat for several days, and smoke-drift was a potential visibility risk for motorists on the beachfront highway and Marine Parade.

The first fire was reported at 8.19am at Awatoto, the southern end of the beachfront approach to Napier, and firefighters were soon discovering embers and smouldering remains of other fires as they moved north.

Manning said calls were received from members of the public but nevertheless, crews would probably have done a standard sweep of the beaches during the morning.

"Beach fires are a constant problem here, especially around Christmas-New Year and Guy Fawkes, and pose risks depending on the amount of driftwood and debris on the beach," he said.

Fighting them on the beaches...Fire crews tending the remnants of New Year's Eve fires on the beaches of Napier. Photo / Doug Laing

He said that if fires were not properly extinguished, the remains posed risks for several days, particularly for children and dogs.

"The stones are like hāngī stones," he said. "They retain the heat for days afterwards."

Meanwhile, local police were pleased with the behaviour of Hawke's Bay revellers as they celebrated the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.

Acting Hawke's Bay area commander Inspector Martin James said there were few issues of note across the region.

After a patrol car was vandalised at Waimarama last year, James said behaviour was much improved in the seaside village following their increased police visibility this time.

"Although there were some alcohol breaches, they were relatively minimal and people were, in general, well behaved," he said.

James said the Napier CBD and Marine Parade areas were routine as well, with nothing untoward or unexpected occurring.

"We had quite a high visibility there, which seems to have suppressed any sort of bad behaviour," he said, thanking police staff for their efforts all around Hawke's Bay.

James added that people needed to beware drink driving over the next few days as well, and could expect to see police out and about:

"We will have an increased visibility over the remainder of the weekend, particularly in the road policing space."