Hawke’s Bay fire service looking at options to tackle heightened wildfire risk

A grass fire at Pōrangahau in Central Hawke's Bay in 2018. Firefighters are warning of an increased risk of wildfires, with the summer season forecast to be dry.

Hawke’s Bay’s fire services are looking at ways to deal with a dry season and heightened wildfire risk, which includes the potential formation of a specialised wildfire team to support those on the frontline.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) acting Hawke’s Bay area manager Glen Varcoe said Fenz had spent the last couple of weeks raising awareness of the impending season and were looking for opportunities for actions they could take.

He said that sometimes a district’s entire brigade could be on a long-duration wildfire job for more than five or six hours and they were looking at how they could support them better.

He said that support could look like food and water, but also potentially relief firefighters.

“This could be like pulling brigades, or like a mini district task force to go in there and provide some relief to the brigade so they can go back, have a rest or have some time off,” Varcoe said.

He emphasised that the idea of a specialised task force remained only conceptual at this stage and was not ready to be implemented.

“We are still in the planning process from a district perspective in identifying individuals and their skills and qualifications to enable us to form these teams.”

He said they were just looking within the Hawke’s Bay area at this stage, but it was a flexible model that could be applied to help other regions.

“We have the ability to support other districts around the country should they need it.”

Fenz has urged people to start preparing for the risk of wildfires early as hotter, drier weather is forecast this summer.

Fenz service delivery wildfire manager Tim Mitchell said in a statement earlier this month that the forecast higher temperatures, reduced rainfall and windier El Nino weather pattern predicted for this summer was likely to cause higher levels of fire danger on the east coasts of both islands.

“Given this year’s flood events and wet conditions, people will likely find it difficult to understand the wildfire risk New Zealand could be facing soon,” Mitchell said.

“But a spell of hot, dry, windy weather will quickly dry out the grass and vegetation that has grown and will likely grow over the coming months, due to the moist soils and return to warmer weather. This will become a fire risk if not managed.”

He said 98 per cent of New Zealand wildfires were caused by people and people could do a great deal to prevent wildfires occurring and to help protect themselves and their property.

People living in rural and semi-rural areas could prepare their properties by keeping the grass short, particularly around their house and other structures, moving firewood and other flammable materials well away from their house, clearing the gutters so hot embers can’t lodge in them, clearing accessways and making sure rapid address numbers are visible, and having a plan of action if they are involved in a vegetation fire.

People can access real-time and localised fire danger levels and fire season information on MetService’s desktop and app platforms.

Before lighting a fire or engaging with anything that emits heat or sparks, people need to always check their local fire danger level at checkitsalright.nz.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz.