Northland news in brief: Slip works, crime novel and fires

Work has begun to stabilise the slip that occurred in February 2023. Photo / Mangawhai SLS presentation

Slip work starts

Work is about to start to stabilise a slip which damaged Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service clubrooms in February 2023. The slip came several days after the Auckland Anniversary floods and has left the clubrooms too dangerous to enter, forcing the club to work out of sub-standard temporary accommodation. The slip is on Kaipara District Council land but, as the council has no money for slip repairs, Surf Life Saving NZ is paying the $1.9 million bill with the help of central government funds. Work was to start on Tuesday [October 29] with an archaeological investigation, after a pre-works whakawātea or blessing on October 14.

Crime novel release date

Northland author Michael Botur has written a new crime novel, due for release in January. Glass Barbie is described by its publisher as a tale of a bungled attempt to take back a kidnapped rich girl. It is narrated by Cockroach Karl, a colourful criminal desperate to rekindle his childhood friendship with former best friend Richie McMullan – now a senior Whangārei police officer who wants nothing to do with Karl’s world of bounty hunting, brawls, bravado and bikers in Northland’s underworld communities. The book was 10 years in the making for author Michael Botur who was inspired by his conversations with arrestees and police staff while working as a Massey University alcohol and drug survey researcher in the cells at the Whangārei Central Police Station. Botur has begun a crowdfunding campaign to assist with production costs and is asking for pre-sale donations via the NZ Arts Foundation platform Boosted.

Burning advice

A Raumanga resident burning rubbish outside at 2am last Thursday morning, beckoned the attention of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, which sent two appliances to the man’s house. Staff put out the fire and gave the man some advice about backyard burns, a FENZ Whangārei shift manager said. While the fire season was currently “open” for the wider district, local government bylaws still applied. Raumanga is within Whangārei’s airshed boundary, which also includes most of Kamo, Tikipunga, Morningside, Central Whangārei, Otangarei, Maunu and Onerahi areas. Residents within the boundary must follow a set of rules, which are published on Northland Regional Council’s website.

Multibox failure likely cause of blaze

Fire experts have completed an investigation into a blaze that ripped through a Whangārei laundromat and drycleaning service on October 20. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesperson said the cause of the fire was “most likely a failure in a multibox”. Fire crews from six Northland stations and an aerial appliance from Auckland Central battled the flames for more than six hours after first being alerted to the fire at about 11.20pm. The fire, on the corner of Commerce St and Okara Dr, also impacted Smart Water and Irrigation – a business next door. .The 50m x 20m laundromat and drycleaning building was “well involved” in fire by the time firefighters arrived. No one was inside the premises or injured. Smoke caused by the fire spread through Raumanga and Maunu, resulting in a public health warning.

Earlier this week the laundromat - drycleaning business texted its customers about its reduced capacity due to the fire. It urged customers to “please bear with us as we re-establish our services”. “Unfortunately, some items we had for laundry/drycleaning have been destroyed but rest assured that we have records for all of these items. We will contact those affected and work with you to reimburse/replace them.” The text recommended two other local businesses customers could use meantime.

Car, scrub fires linked

Authorities have now confirmed a car fire from which a man was rescued in Northland last week was also the cause of a sizeable scrub fire. Police were previously unable to say if the two incidents south of Ōmāpere were related until a fire investigator had inspected the scene. One person was airlifted to Middlemore Hospital after being rescued from the car fire, which was reported to emergency services about 1pm. A spokesperson for the rescue helicopter from Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) said the rescued person was in a “critical condition” after sustaining serious burns.

Police, Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz), and Hato Hone St John were alerted at about 1pm on Thursday to the single vehicle incident at Diamond Rd, off SH12. At the same time, crews from four Fenz Northland stations and a helicopter from Kerikeri worked together for about three hours to extinguish a scrub fire that measured about 150m x 30m. Police have not yet released the cause of the car fire.