Featured Fires Should Address Scots Pine Problem, Mayor Says

The massive fire that devastated more than 3,500 hectares of trees and brush in Pūkaki highlights the need for a proactive approach to the problem of Scots pine in the area, says the mayor of the Mackenzie district.

Graham Smith acknowledged that the district had a great job ahead of it as it addressed the need to eradicate the trees that have become a major problem in the area.

Civil Defense Minister Peeni Henare visited Twizel on Tuesday to see firsthand the impact of the fire and said he would carry the message to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that there was an urgent need to act on the problem trees.

Henare met Smith and the fire department. He also toured the affected areas and visited families affected by the fire, which started near the bed of the Twizel River shortly before noon Sunday. At its peak, it was fought off by 17 helicopters with monsoon buckets, as well as nearly 100 ground personnel.

Rob Hands, South Canterbury Rural Fire Director, said Stuff Monday that most of the trees burned in the fire were Scots pines. The owners had planted other types of trees to control the spread of the pine trees, which helped control the fire.

Henare said: “In my first conversations with the mayor, he pointed out to me the problem of scots pines and what the challenge is.

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“It is clear that this fire is another of those reasons why we have to act as soon as possible to ensure that there is an effective plan so that these types of fires do not occur in the future.”

Henare said they had met with property owners affected by the fire who had varying degrees of damage, including the owner of the home who had lost to the flames.

“It was heartbreaking and we spoke to the owner, who was thankful that no one was hurt.”

Mackenzie District Council Emergency Operations Center Public Information Manager Chris Clarke confirmed that families living on properties amid the fire were able to return home Tuesday.

“There is practically no risk, so they were able to return to their homes in the course of the morning.”

Smith spoke of the importance of being alert for fire and dry tinder conditions.

He said the area where the fire had raged was probably “the most dangerous in terms of Scots pine in the district.”

“The property that had a lot [of wilding pines], Pūkaki Downs, had actually done a lot of cleaning and without them this fire would have been even worse. “

Property owners who had made an effort to keep vegetation off the fronts of their properties also helped themselves, he said.

“Here around Twizel we have areas where there are trees; we must be more proactive to ensure that vegetation is not in a position where it can explode and cause property damage ”.

Smith said the fire had affected the district during a “testing moment.”

“We have been through the Covid; we’ve had Auckland locked up; we have very high tourism here and in the same way this has affected many companies, ” Smith said.

“We didn’t need the fire, that’s just another something on top.”

Smith said he was very proud of the way the district had coped during the fire, but there was “a lot of anxiety among our people in this community.”

“Twizel was threatened by a fire about three years ago … It has scared people. We are very concerned about the Scots pines and vegetation in these areas.

“And I know the government has given us quite a bit of funding, but it hasn’t come fast enough to manage some of the branches and tree growth and fuel that can go on at any time.

“I only ask that we can get the recovery underway, please be patient and we will fix it.”

Plan of attack

Hands confirmed that the fire was “controlled” shortly after noon Tuesday.

“When you get into deep combustion or fuel that has been buried in the ground, it could emerge three months later.

“We will make an assessment of what the perimeter is, what is the risk of a fire breaking through that perimeter, and then we will work from there.

“But rest assured, this site is currently managed.”

He said firefighters expected to fight the blaze until the end of the week.

“We are taking the opportunity right now to develop a plan over the next week.

“All ground crews have returned to the station.”

Hands said heavy machinery operators would be working for the next three days.

“All planes will be retired shortly, and we will call locals when necessary.

“We have a plan to use some of the technology from the sky and do thermal imaging work to identify where those hot spots are in the future, which will help establish our plan as of Thursday.”

Hands said the fire was under a layer of snow.

“There will be smoking heaps with heavy loads of fuel in certain areas and that shouldn’t be a concern of the public.

“You will not be heading to any property; we have conducted site assessments on all of those properties and we would not allow the public to return to them without confidence that they are safe.”

He said they expected to be actively fighting fires again on Thursday and Friday and would be keeping a close eye on the area.

Site assessments were also being conducted for each of the residential properties on the fire line “so that we can develop a hazard plan for each of those properties to allow them to return to them,” he said.

Snowfall at Mackenzie

Firefighters who fought a large fire near Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park were helped by overnight snow and rain that fell to low levels in south Canterbury.

Clarke said “urgency and danger” were now out of the picture because the wind “was completely gone” and rain and snow had hit the area.

“There was some snow falling on the fire ground and a decent amount of rain. This is all good news from our perspective, ”Clarke said.

“Firefighters will reduce hot spots, so today is a more routine day.”

Clarke said the helicopters remained on the ground due to weather conditions, so an assessment of the fire area would be made from the ground.

Pūkaki airport resident Chris Rudge said the rain had started at 10 p.m. Monday and only subsided before 8 a.m. Tuesday.

“This is absolutely the best thing that could happen,” he said.

Rudge said he had witnessed numerous “outbreaks” that began around 8 pm, particularly in the northern sector of the fire area, before the rain calmed it down.

“It is completely strange to go from one extreme to the other.”

Henare told the helicopter pilots at Pūkaki airport that he was there to give them a “big thank you” for their work.

“The work that helicopter people do is absolutely amazing. The lifeguards in New Zealand are second to none … They are all so passionate about their work. “

Webcams from the New Zealand Transportation Agency show snow had fallen and settled on State Highway 80, which has been closed since the fire started and spread to both sides of the road on Sunday.

Sheriff Les Andrew de Twizel said SH80 reopened at noon Tuesday.

Andrew said contractors and emergency services were moving a lot of machinery as they were still focused on dealing with the hot spots.

There were no problems and he praised the audience for their patience.

MetService forecaster Peter Little said a heavy snow warning for the Canterbury foothills south of the Rakaia River would remain in place until 7pm Monday.

“We expect up to 20 centimeters of snow at 500 meters above sea level, while there could be a temperate climate closer to sea level along the coast,” Little said.

“The snow should subside tonight, but it is certainly different to have this kind of weather pattern in early spring.”