KEY POINTS:
Patea residents were allowed to return to their homes last night, despite toxic smoke clouds from a suspicious fire at the south Taranaki town's long derelict freezing works still hanging overhead.
Around a sixth of Patea's 2000 people were evacuated in the early hours yesterday, after fire raced through the freezing works. The buildings contained asbestos in the ceilings and walls, sparking fears sleeping residents downwind from the blaze could be breathing in poisonous smoke.
Firefighters were stalled from tackling the blaze until more than 300 people were evacuated, as their efforts would have sent more of the dangerous fibres into the air.
After the residents were moved, either to a reception centre in nearby Hawera or to stay with relatives or friends, firefighters struggled to bring the fire under control.
Emergency services said that the fire was unlikely to be extinguished before nightfall, and the site was too dangerous for fire crews to work on during the night.
It was expected the fire service would monitor the site during the night and resume work on putting out the fire today.
"Once the fire is out, CIB and fire safety officers will carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the fire," Hawera police Sergeant Brent Roycroft said.
"Every now and again kids get in there for a look around and a couple of years ago we had a fire there after a campfire got out of control. We don't know what's happened: all we know is that there is no power to the site."
Late last night health officials gave the go-ahead for people to return to their homes, having determined there was no risk to health from airborne asbestos particles.
People living downwind from the blaze received an unwelcome wake-up call in the early hours of yesterday morning as police, fire service and St John's Ambulance staff rushed to clear residents sleeping in the lee of a strong coastal breeze blowing the asbestos-laden smoke.
"There were no issues with the evacuation. I got more grief from my wife asking why she had to get out of bed early on Waitangi Day than from anybody else," Mr Roycroft said.
The Roycroft family joined around 300 other Patea residents at an evacuation centre at Hawera. The evacuees spent all Waitangi Day there or moved out to stay with friends of relatives. Meanwhile, fire crews from around the region battled to control the blaze at the freezing works which, until its closure in 1983, was the biggest employer in Patea.
A large complex containing several buildings, the freezing works had been fenced off for many years. Periodically people have tried to start businesses in the complex, the most recent being a failed attempt to start a rabbit farm.
The South Taranaki District Council had been aware for some time that asbestos was present in the building. Recently, together with the Taranaki Regional Council, it had secured Ministry of Environment funding to assess the risk to Patea from the asbestos and other possible chemical contamination on the site.
"It has always been a visual eyesore," South Taranaki District Council spokesman Gerard Langford said.
"But until now, when it becomes a public risk, because it's on private property and been fenced off and secured, it has not been a public health risk."
Taranaki Medical Officer of Health Richard Hoskins downplayed the health risk posed by the smoke saying it was very low. However, he warned people may react to the smoke and asbestos with a cough, a sore throat or respiratory condition like asthma.
The fire forced the cancellation of Paepae In The Park, the Patea Waitangi Day celebrations.
