Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Soaring temperatures bring fire risk

By Doug Laing
Hawkes Bay Today·
18 Jan, 2015 05:47 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A large patch of dry grass at Ron Giorgi Park in Flaxmere was left charred after a fire, which firefighters believe was suspicious, broke out yesterday afternoon. Photo / Warren Buckland

A large patch of dry grass at Ron Giorgi Park in Flaxmere was left charred after a fire, which firefighters believe was suspicious, broke out yesterday afternoon. Photo / Warren Buckland

The fire danger in Hawke's Bay is soaring to extreme levels with some of the hottest temperatures of the summer and a month without significant rain in many areas.

As well as soaring temperatures, the region has seen a succession of grass and scrub fires.

After a week in which forecast rain for the Napier-Hastings area failed to show, temperatures hit a peak of close to 32C on Saturday, and eased slightly yesterday with the arrival of northeasterlies off the sea mid-afternoon.

But forecasts are for high temperatures today and tomorrow, with some rain predicted for Wednesday.

According to national weather agency MetService, Napier had the highest temperature in the country on Saturday at 31.3C, although a Wairoa weather station posted a maximum of 31.9C, which compared with 33.3C at the same station on January 5.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Temperatures eased a little yesterday, for although Napier was again the hottest site in the country about 10.15am, with a temperature of 27.6C, the mantle was assumed by Christchurch where the temperature mid-afternoon was over 31C.

The temperatures brought thousands out for major events such as the Wairoa A&P Show on Saturday and yesterday's Waimarama beach day, and the Upper Mohaka rodeo about 100km away near Te Haroto.

The risks coming in the big dry were highlighted in a series of fires.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A grass fire raged in Ron Giorgi Park, Flaxmere, yesterday afternoon, edging close to the park's fence line and the houses beyond.

A local resident said she witnessed her neighbours keeping the fire at bay with their garden hose before the fire brigade arrived about 4.20pm. It scorched an area of the park about 40m long.

Hastings fire brigade station officer Craig Parsons said the fire was being treated as suspicious. "There's been two or three [fires] in that area in the last couple of weeks."

Another fire kept firefighters busy for almost two hours on a riverbank near Hastings on Saturday.

Discover more

Dry spell fear - fire takes hours to quell

07 Jan 02:16 AM

Arson suspected in spate of bush fires

07 Jan 05:47 PM

Dannevirke: Total fire ban if dry spell goes on

13 Jan 04:30 AM

Lisa Langer: Fire warnings apply to everyone

15 Jan 05:00 AM

Fire Service spokesman Mike Wanoa said a vehicle fire at the riverbank end of Carrick Rd, Twyford, established a blaze which spread about 200m near the banks of the Ngaruroro River, near Hastings. The Fire Service was called at 11.13am on Saturday, with two Fire Service crews from Hastings and one from Napier being joined by Heretaunga Rural Fire crews and a tanker.

The vehicle had been abandoned and police were advised.

The Fire Service and rural teams joined forces later in the day when fire spread over about 400sqm off Higbee Rd, Bridge Pa.

On Friday evening, Napier firefighters went to a fire on the banks of the Tutaekuri River near Taradale, another fire was reported upstream and off Omarunui Rd early on Saturday morning, while fire burnt another abandoned car near the Chesterhope Bridge over the Ngaruroro River, north of Hastings, early yesterday. The last significant rain in the Napier-Hastings area was on December 17-18.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Some roads remained blocked.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP