Eight helicopters have been rotation dumping water on the fire on Thursday. Photo / RNZ, Calvin Samuel
By RNZ
Dozens of residents from the Waipoua Settlement in the Kaipara district of Northland could be out of their homes for a week, as a large fire in grassland and pine forest nearby remains uncontained.
Residents have been sent to the nearby Waikara Marae, which has been set up as a manaaki (support) centre.
As of Thursday morning, the blaze covered more than 70ha, with about a 4.5km perimeter, Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident controller Corey Matchitt said.
Another chopper would join the seven already being used, plus there would be five heavy machinery units and 50 firefighters on the ground.
The fire wasn’t contained and some “hard work” will be needed today to set up some containment lines, prevent the fire spreading into the forestry block and protect properties and sites of cultural significance, Matchitt told Morning Report.
Fire and Emergency said that on Wednesday it saved 20 homes from being engulfed by flames, with the aid of seven helicopters with monsoon buckets working to douse the properties.
No homes have been damaged so far and no-one has been injured.
Te Roroa Development Group general manager Snow Tane helped with the evacuations last night.
He told Morning Report on Thursday that fire crews were only able to fight the fire in areas they could access safely.
Some crews had to be pulled back yesterday as conditions became too risky and the firefighting was left to those on board the helicopters.
Some homes were just metres away from the fire front.
“It was still a stressful time for the residents that were pretty close by.”
In some areas residents and firefighters were trapped and couldn’t evacuate until the helicopters went in and doused the area.
“It is tinder dry. The whole area around Dargaville north to the Hokianga is probably the driest point this summer - so a very challenging situation at the moment.”
Some residents who evacuated had to cross over a ford before getting to a high point “well out of danger”.
Others were evacuated in vehicles and were taken to the marae where a briefing from Fire and Emergency and other support services was due to be held this morning.
RNZ reporter Peter de Graaf, who is at the scene of the fire today, said it would have been a terrifying experience for some residents yesterday.
With flames close to their homes they could not access State Highway 12, which was blocked by flames, and most would have had to leave the area via the beach.
De Graaf said the fire was in the south west of the forest and there were no concerns at this point about a threat to the country’s largest kauri, Tane Mahuta.
While the fire had died down this morning, it was expected to flare up again as the weather became hotter, de Graaf said.
There was a thick haze yesterday and a strong smell of smoke in the air, he said.
Residents face a nervous wait, as crews expect the fire to take up to seven days to be contained.
Dargaville Intermediate School asked whānau to support those evacuated.
“They are in need of food, toiletries, and clothing at this stage. They had to leave all belongings behind,” it posted on Facebook.
People could drop donations to the school office between 8am and 10am, it said.
Ten firefighters have been monitoring the fireground overnight.
An additional 40 firefighters were due today with plans to use heavy machinery to create fire breaks.