A firefighter stands on the scene of a grass fire which threatened buildings on a Tukituki Rd property east of Hastings on Tuesday. Photo / Doug Laing.
A firefighter stands on the scene of a grass fire which threatened buildings on a Tukituki Rd property east of Hastings on Tuesday. Photo / Doug Laing.
Open fires are prohibited in Napier and Hastings in an order made just hours before a hillside blaze which went right to the perimeter of a home east of Hastings.
The fire at a property off Tukituki Road, east of Hastings, was reported at 4.15pm.
A Haumoana Volunteer Fire Brigade crew found the fire spreading rapidly from a roadside source, along a 300m rise towards the house.
With the flames driven by an easterly and temperatures near 30C about 3pm, the alert was quickly raised to a Fire and Emergency New Zealand third alarm.
Fifteen trucks, tankers or support vehicles arrived from the Napier and Hastings brigades, as well as Haumoana, Havelock and Bay View.
With driveway access, firefighters focused immediately on protecting the house and three nearby buildings, and fighting the flames from the uphill side.
“It was very close,” one said as he rested by the trucks on the road below, where traffic had been unable to pass for about three hours.
Fire and Emergency NZ upped the Tukituki Rd fire on Tuesday to a third alarm, with 15 Fire and Emergency trucks, tankers and support vehicles sent to the blaze. Photo / Doug Laing.
A senior officer at the scene early on Tuesday night told Hawke’s Bay Today that while the cause had not been investigated at that stage, the fire had been a “big warning” of the fire risk.
With dry conditions and outlooks for continuing dry weather, Fire and Emergency, in conjunction with the Hastings council and Napier City Council, announced late on Tuesday the whole Ahuriri - Heretaunga fire district was moving into a P “prohibited fire season” from 8am Wednesday.
This means a total ban on lighting fires in the open and the suspension of any permit in place.
Mohaka, Wairoa Inland, Tukituki East, Southern Hawkes Bay Coast and Porangahau moved to a “restricted” fire season, meaning permits are required, and Wairoa Coast, Esk, Tutaekuri and Tukituki West remain in a restricted season.
Fire and Emergency warns the public to keep grass short, clean dead leaves and debris from gutters and decks, keep driveways clear of trees and hedges for fire trucks, monitor historic fire sites, make sure “rapid” property numbers are easy for emergency services to locate, and to call 111 at the first sign of smoke.
There is also an issue with “historic” fires in rural areas, where legal burn-offs have taken place over recent weeks or months but retain embers which can quickly reignite in the summer heat and winds.
While the preference is to not have any fires, the service said it wants to extinguish fires early, and urges the public to visit checkitsalright.nz for more fire safety information.
On Tuesday, Napier had the hottest temperatures in New Zealand, and the hottest for Hawke’s Bay this summer, peaking at 32C, with the fire risk elevated by highish winds.
The area’s climate headed in the same direction on Wednesday, Napier appearing to peak at 31.2C between, and Hastings at 30.8C. While Tuesday was a battle between the twin cities for warmest temperature in the country, Wednesday was shaping as a Battle of the Bays, with Kawerau, in Bay of Plenty, reaching 31.3c.
Equipment near the source of the first at the roadside. Photo / Doug Laing
Fire and other authorities are currently reviewing the risks in Hawke’s Bay in meetings each Monday and Thursday, but Fire and Emergency regional commander Glenn Varcoe said an option was taken last Friday to suspend permits.
The latest prohibition was decided at Monday’s meeting, and if current conditions prevail “it won’t be long” before the prohibition is extended to all of Hawke’s Bay from Central Hawke’s Bay to Wairoa, he said.
“It doesn’t take much.”
MetService on Wednesday morning was showing no forecasts for rain in the next 10 days apart from possible isolated showers.
On Tuesday afternoon’s fire, Varcoe said the crews had put in good work to safeguard the residential property and then extinguish the fire across the site.
He said all brigades had put in extra training in anticipation of a dry season and are well placed to meet the challenges.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 41 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
