Fears over lack of fire risk reduction in Cromwell

Cromwell resident Des Minehan says the state of grass in a reserve along Butchers Dr, near his home, could engulf his neighbourhood in flames. Photo: Tom Kitchin

A Cromwell neighbourhood is concerned about a fire risk in a reserve below their properties and one resident claims the Central Otago District Council has done little to address the issue.

Des Minehan lives on Kawarau Court in Cromwell, above a reserve on Butchers Dr, near the Kawarau River.

The reserve is above a popular swimming and boating area in Cromwell.

Mr Minehan was involved in the rural fire service for 46 years. He was chairman of the Southern Rural Fire Authority until it was disestablished last year.

He said the fire risk at the reserve was high because some of the grass was up to his shoulders and it was close to a popular recreation area.

"It only needs a spark from a vehicle travelling past here — this is a high-use area."
He told the Otago Daily Times  he spent the past 18 months trying to talk to the council and community board about the problem.

He said the council attempted to mow the grass, but only mowed the top and the bottom of the reserve, leaving long grass in the middle.

At the end of last year, Mr Minehan commissioned a report by Jamie Cowan, of Wildfire Management NZ in Queenstown, to assess the fire risk.

The report concluded that the fire risk was "high" to "very high" and residents would have no time to evacuate if a fire broke out.

Last week, Mr Minehan sent the report to the council.

"I'm speaking on behalf of the neighbours — all we want is a short-term and long-term mitigation plan to protect our homes and our lives."

A neighbour of Mr Minehan's, who did not wish to be named, last month said  there had been two fires in the reserve during the night.

The fires did not spread very far and were put out by the people who started the fire.
She was not certain what caused the fires.

Mr Minehan said the property owners were lucky the fires happened at night when it was dark. He said if it was in daylight on a hot day, fire could have engulfed the homes.

He did not expect the council to mow the grass immediately as it would be too hot to mow at this time of year but suggested they could use line trimmers early in the morning.
Central Otago District Council acting chief executive Louise Van der Voort said the council had acknowledged Mr Minehan's complaint.

But, she said, because the council was not a fire authority and did not have fire officers, it forwarded Mr Cowan's report to Fire Emergency New Zealand (Fenz), who she said would inspect the area.

"The area at Butchers Dr is outside council's parks contract and will be a challenging site to mow, but we will certainly take the appropriate action if identified [as] a fire risk by Fenz.

"As explained to Mr Minehan, Fenz is up against it in terms of responding to incidents, but has indicated staff will assist as soon as resources permit."

She confirmed that the council owned the land.

Fenz rural regional manager for Otago-Southland Mike Grant said the council notified him about the fire risk at the reserve.

He said Fenz would consider the information in Mr Cowan's report and would meet the council to discuss the risk. But he could not provide a timeframe, as  Fenz had a "busy workload".

Mr Minehan said the responses were  an excuse for delay.

"Mr Cowan has the authority, I wouldn't have used him otherwise and he's independent from the council and Fenz. The [council] are just trying to reinvent the wheel. It's a 'don't care' attitude," he said.

Fenz Otago-Southland assistant area manager Steve Jones said although the torrential rain lowered the fire risk, recent hot dry weather meant the risk was still there.

tom.kitchin@odt.co.nz