Fire crews from Tokomaru Bay, Tolaga Bay and Eastland Rural Fire, backed up by three helicopters with monsoon buckets, battled a fire in a block of young pine trees inland from Tokomaru Bay on Tuesday. Photo / Robin Sneddon
Fire crews from Tokomaru Bay, Tolaga Bay and Eastland Rural Fire, backed up by three helicopters with monsoon buckets, battled a fire in a block of young pine trees inland from Tokomaru Bay on Tuesday. Photo / Robin Sneddon
Sparks from a skid site started a fire which engulfed a block of young pines inland from Tokomaru Bay on Tuesday.
Firefighters with helicopter support were tied up all afternoon and into the evening dealing with the forest fire which covered about two to three hectares off Mata Road.
Firecrews from Tokomaru Bay, Tolaga Bay, and Eastland Rural Fire brigades and three helicopters with monsoon buckets responded at about midday.
Trudi Hicklin, Fire and Emergency NZ community risk manager for Tairāwhiti said an early call for helicopter support after the fire was discovered made a big difference.
“We also had a digger operator, who was working in the area, who helped out in fighting the fire,” Hicklin said.
“It was a 12km round trip to get water to the portable dam we had set up for the helicopters to dip out of, and with four water trucks shuttling water on unsealed forest roads, it was a bit of a mission,” an Eastland Rural Fire spokesman said.
Firefighters were tied up all afternoon on Tuesday tackling a fire in young pines on the Mata Road. Forestry crews kept an eye on it today. Photo / Robin Sneddon
He added that the fire crews had it contained by the evening. “It was a big day for the crews. Ten and a half hours after we arrived we finally got to go home.”
Hicklin said it was “a job well done”.
Three helicopters with monsoon buckets were called in to assist, and the early arrival of the choppers made the difference in fighting the fire. Photo / Robin Sneddon
The incident was handed over to forestry crews who monitored the fire site on Wednesday to deal with any flare-ups.
The fire risk across Tairāwhiti sits at ‘high’ again on Thursday.
With a 32C high forecast, Fire and Emergency urges people to take extra care with any fires in the open.
The active Restricted Fire Season means a permit must be obtained for almost every fire in the open.
Fire and Emergency has put a restricted fire season into effect for the ‘Wairoa inland’ fire zone until further notice.
The move, which came into force at 8am Wednesday, means both ‘Wairoa coast’ and ‘Wairoa inland’ are now covered by a restricted season.
Hawke’s Bay district manager Glen Varcoe said the fire season changes were because those areas were drying out faster in the hot, dry, and windy weather, and the number of fires was increasing.
