A 245-hectare fire burning its way through forest near Pōrangahau in Central Hawke’s Bay is likely to continue to cause firefighters headaches over the next week.
Strong winds about midday today grounded helicopters and a plane trying to douse the largest of three blazes in the district, which have been burning since Tuesday.
The largest of the fires, according to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, is at the Saleyards Bridge and today it covered an estimated 245ha.
Fires burning at Bush Rd and Schaeffer Rd were about 5ha and 10ha, respectively.
All three had been contained by this afternoon, according to Fire and Emergency incident controller Warrick LeQuesne.
“We have had our firefighters working hard in arduous conditions, so we are pretty confident we have all three fires contained.
“The smallest one we should have dealt with by the end of today [Wednesday], that’s the one off Bush Rd, the one on Schaeffer Rd we are hoping to get completely extinguished by tomorrow evening.”
LeQuesne said the large fire behind the village would likely take a week to 10 days to fully extinguish.
He said the challenges firefighters faced there were “the terrain, the weather conditions, it’s steep and is very difficult to get water because it’s elevated – and Pōrangahau is a windy place”.
He said the downtime, due to strong winds, was used to plan and get further resources sent to the area from Wellington, Whanganui, Taranaki and New Plymouth.
Incident controller Tony Kelly said crews will be continuing to work tomorrow, although only if it is safe to do so.
“We do have wind warnings in place, but we will work when we can and be using heavy machinery to put in containment lines around the fires.
“While no evacuation orders are expected overnight, people must remain vigilant and have a go-bag ready tomorrow in case the wind forces the fires towards Pōrangahau.“
The Pōrangahau Country Club, Wallingford Hall and Omakere Hall are all predesignated Community Emergency Hubs that are available to receive evacuees should the need arise.
Ingka Investments Management New Zealand operations manager Dylan Foster said roughly 80ha of its 550ha pine plantation near Pōrangahau had caught on fire.
“We have got a big chunk of forest in there, but there are other forests neighbouring as well, so we are confident it is not just us at this stage, and other people have been affected.”
Ingka Group is one of 12 different groups of companies that own and operate Ikea retail under franchise agreements with Inter Ikea Systems BV. Ingka Group has three business areas: Ikea Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres.
Foster said the production pines that were burning were intended to be pruned, harvested and used for the Ikea supply chain.
“We are all in this together ... We are hurting like everyone else here at the moment and our big focus is ensuring the fire gets put out.”
He said three members of Ingka’s team were liaising with firefighters to help them assess risks.
“It’s pretty early to apportion blame, especially since we are still unsure how it started, but to our rough understanding, we believe it started out[side] of the forest.
“Firefighting is certainly in the consideration of forest planning; in this case, you are very lucky to have the Pōrangahau River, which is a great source of water ... and existing dams.”
Kelvin Meredith, Ingka Investments Forestland Country Manager NZ, said the fire would not impact the Ikea supply chain internationally or locally.
“The trees affected at Old Hill Forest make up less than 0.1% of the total NZ forestland portfolio for Ingka Investments.”
Fire and Emergency’s Wellington and Hawke’s Bay districts have brought in a total ban on outdoor fires and fireworks from midday today until 8am on Monday, October 27.
The prohibition means no new outdoor fires can be lit. People must also check their previous burns for signs of reignition.
Hawke’s Bay community risk manager Nigel Hall said Fire and Emergency needed the public’s help to ease the load on their firefighters.
“Anyone who has had an outdoor fire since the beginning of September is asked to go and check that it is completely out.
“If you see any sign of heat or smoke, please act immediately to fully wet-down the site. If this is not possible, call 111 so that firefighters can assist.”
The community could also help by refraining from letting off fireworks as part of Diwali celebrations while the fireworks ban is in place, Hall said.
People planning outdoor activities over the long weekend should remember that all campfires and bonfires are also prohibited.
The prohibitions are in addition to the ones in place in Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury and Mid-South Canterbury for the same time period.
Incident controller Tony Kelly said today that due to the large amount of smoke nearby, residents – particularly those in Pōrangahau – were advised to keep windows and doors closed and avoid going into the smoke where possible.
He said those impacted by the smoke can call their GP, or HealthLine on 0800 611 116.
Pōrangahau resident Tania Nicholas said the community spent Tuesday night on edge and in a cloud of thick smoke after the fire near Saleyards Bridge swept over a young pine plantation near Old Hill Rd.
“Driving through this morning, I was actually petrified ... It’s hit the new pine plantations.
“These little fire clusters, coupled with the wind for sure, would have reached the village if the pines were a couple of years older.”
She said she got “a bit teary” after she saw three helicopters take to the skies this morning to battle the fire, after they were unable to do so on Tuesday because of the strong wind.
Nicholas said she feared the devastation that would be caused by the fire, but as a community, they were grateful for the personnel who had been called from around the country to help and for those who stayed on during the night.
“You think, gosh, is it going to stay at bay and not reach us?”
She said members of the community had feared this exact situation, and their “what if” situations were coming true with the Ingka plantation.
Residents of five homes self-evacuated overnight on Tuesday as the vegetation fires continued to burn in the area.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council chief executive Doug Tate said on Tuesday the council was in close contact with Fire and Emergency and would support their response as required.
“People should dial 111 for emergencies, and report issues like downed trees blocking district roads by calling council on 06 857 8060.
“Please do not contact us via social media such as Facebook as these are not monitored channels – but you will get an answer 24/7 on the council customer service number 06 857 8060.”