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A wildfire that destroyed most of a village on New Zealand’s South Island has sparked fierce debate among upland farmers and conservationists as those affected struggle to understand the unusually fierce nature of the fire.
Lake Ōhau village is located in the foothills of the Ben Ohau mountain range and is home to only 15 permanent residents, but their numbers increase significantly during the holiday season. On Sunday morning, a fire swept through the hills and entered the village, forcing 90 people to evacuate.
Although no one was killed or seriously injured, some 50 of the village’s 70 houses were destroyed, as were 4,600 hectares of land, 1,900 of which are conservation properties.
As firefighters continue to put out the blaze and residents search the ruins of their homes, the focus is on how and why the fire started, and emergency crews on the scene say the ferocity of the blaze was rare in Nueva. Zealand, and generally only seen in bushfires in Australia or California.
Climate scientists have warned that longer and hotter summers as a result of the climate crisis are making such scenarios more likely, while local officials and industry groups have blamed land management practices.
🔥 UPDATE 1.30PM – FIRE IN LAKE OHAU 2/3
By noon the fire had burned 4,600ha, of which 1,900 are conservation farms. The fire has a perimeter of 41 km.
11 helicopters and 8 ground crews are fighting the fire despite difficult conditions, with strong winds and warm temperatures
– Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) October 5, 2020
Mackenzie District Mayor Graham Smith said the Department of Conservation’s (DoC) lax management of conservation lands was responsible for the fire getting out of control, a claim backed by industry group Federated Farmers.
Smith claimed the DoC had been unable to keep scrub and grasslands under control, and failed to control the spread of scots pines, all of which acted as fuel for the fire.
“It is a great risk for neighboring properties to have areas of land with so much vegetation and fire fuel,” Smith said. “I would like to see better management practices.”
Federated Farmers said it had campaigned for decades to allow sheep and cattle to graze on conservation land in small numbers to keep grass down, saying the uncontrolled nature of the conservation land was a risk to farms, livestock. and livelihoods throughout the South Island. .
“Conservation land is a bomb that’s about to explode,” said Rob Stokes, chairman of the Federated Farmers High Country Committee.
However, climate scientists disagree, saying that the main culprit is climate change.
George Perry, a professor of environmental science at the University of Auckland, said that an average of 4,000 hectares of land is burned each year in the country, and the average size of the fire is less than four hectares.
The country’s vegetation was not very flammable compared to Australia’s eucalyptus trees, but hotter and longer summers due to climate change made the country more likely to catch fire.
“There is a high risk that we will end up with a landscape that is more flammable and more vulnerable to fire,” Perry said.
“I would say that most people in New Zealand are not ready at all. [for fire], “he said.” People are very prepared for earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activity, but I don’t think most people would have thought of fire as a threat. People have always seen it as something that happens in Australia or California or parts of the Mediterranean basin and not as something we need to worry so much about.
“[But] if you look at the average of the last 30 years, [these recent fires] they are very big … they are very important, especially since the vegetation here has not adapted to fire at all. “
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said the government was aware of the increasing fire risk associated with climate change. “The fire needs to be controlled. We need to do smart fire in the future, ”he said.
However, he rejected the suggestion that farmers should be allowed to graze livestock on conservation land. “I think Federated Farmers is making an effort for free grazing,” he told a news conference.
The DoC was contacted for comment.
According to temperature records, the winter of 2020 was the warmest on record, with spring temperatures well above average.
The government has provided NZ $ 100,000 in immediate relief funds for the worst affected Ohau residents.
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