Helicopters with monsoon buckets dump water on a fire in Whanganui River Rd in February. Photo / Bevan Conley
Helicopters with monsoon buckets dump water on a fire in Whanganui River Rd in February. Photo / Bevan Conley
February 1
The month of February got off to a blistering start with days of consistent temperatures upwards of 25 degrees across the district creating havoc for firefighters, with a large forest fire appearing near Whanganui River Rd.
The fire started near the road itself, before travelling upa steep bank, burning around 20 hectares of pine forest as it moved. At its peak, around 26 firefighters were battling the inferno, with crews travelling to the scene from Taranaki, Manawatū and Waimarino.
Firefighters eventually managed to control the blaze, and it was extinguished on February 4.
Whanganui witnessed a record-equalling temperature on February 4, with the mercury shooting up to a blistering 32.4 degrees at around 4pm on Tuesday afternoon.
The temperature was recorded at the airport - a different location to where temperatures for generic reports and TV news are collected - but still raised eyebrows.
Siblings Te Amaroa and Te Okengaroa Nicholson cool off in Whanganui's Kowhai Park after the temp hit 32C. Photo / Bevan Conley
The 32.4 degree figure was equal to that of a temperature recorded in January 2011, not quite edging it for the top spot.
Barely a week after the nasty blaze near the Whanganui River, another large fire broke out, with around 80 hectares of scrub and bush burnt to a crisp near Bulls.
Fire and Emergency were called to the site around 4pm on the Saturday afternoon to find a large area engulfed in flames, with the fire spreading quickly. At its height, smoke plumes could be seen from as far away as the Manawatū Gorge and Woodville.
Around nine rural appliances, two water tankers and two helicopters battled the blaze, eventually burning out two days later.
February 9
Sunday, February 9 marked the beginning of a difficult two weeks for around 260 St Johns Hill and College Estate residents as they discovered that there was no gas available to their homes.
The outage was caused by a broken high-pressure water pipe which subsequently shot water into the gas pipe network. The repair of the network was a strenuous task involving digging up various sections of the breached pipes and purging them of water.
It's believed around 60 different sections were dug up to repair the piping, with around half of the affected properties having their gas supply restored by February 18. The remaining properties had their supply restored by February 25.
Whanganui joined the growing list of regional authorities across New Zealand and the globe to declare a climate emergency on February 11, with 10 of the council's 13 elected members voting to support the move.
The public gallery was full to watch Whanganui District Council vote in favour of declaring a climate emergency. Photo / Bevan Conley
The issue was originally explored in August 2019 when the council voted to officially dub climate change an "impending crisis", but steered clear of the word "emergency".
However, councillor Alan Taylor didn't believe that went far enough, and brought the issue back to council for another discussion. After a long discussion among members, including some changes in opinion from certain councillors, the public gallery erupted in applause when the motion was passed.
