‘Ten minutes to get out’: evacuees flee Ahipara houses after massive fire approaches

One hundred houses were evacuated overnight as the fire in Ahipara continues to burn.

Six helicopters are in the air tackling the massive fire burning in the Northland bush, threatening up to 100 homes.

Northern New Zealand Fire and Emergencies Shift Manager Kaisey Cook said helicopters were ready at first light to try to control the fire that was burning in a one-square-kilometer block of land.

Cook said about 40 firefighters were fighting the fire on the ground.

The evacuations began yesterday when some locals were warned that they had 10 minutes to leave their homes. The residents were taken to two emergency wellness centers at a nearby rugby and marae club.

By the time Tessa Pohio and her family evacuated their home in Ahipara, there was ash falling around the house and flames along the top of the ridge.

Firefighters had previously warned them that they would not have much time to leave if evacuations were needed.

“The kids were scared but for us it was exciting, we all went down to the beach to see,” Pohio said.

But he “got serious” when a firefighter told them: “They are not being evacuated right now, but if they do, they will only have 10 minutes to get out.

About 20 minutes later they were ordered to leave.

They had to leave dinner behind: crawfish, kahawai and two half-barbecued legs of lamb.

They were one of 40 properties in the area that were evacuated and spent the night in Roma Marae.

For 9-year-old Macie Abley-Marsh, the fire was exciting at first.

“But when they told us to go, I started to freak out.”

The fire started around 5.45pm in the Ahipara Gumfields Historic Reserve and spread rapidly through dry scrubland despite the best efforts of several crews and six helicopters.

Residents reported seeing flames of up to 40 meters as the fire crawled through bushes and into houses.

Mayor John Carter said evacuation centers were set up, one at the Ahipara Rugby Club and another at Roma Marae, where evacuees would sleep at night.

About 20 adults and 10 children, some in pajamas and with stuffed animals, were at the Ahipara Rugby Club at 10:30 pm on Tuesday.

A group of volunteers, many associated with the club, prepared food for the evacuees, while
Members of Te Rarawa, the local iwi, headed to the club with fruits and vegetables from their gardens.

Carter said that when the helicopters were stopped last night, when it got too dark for them to work, the fire was still spreading.

As the flames advanced towards the village, there was a risk that the houses would be destroyed.

By Tuesday night, the fire had grown to 2 kilometers wide, he said.

The helicopters would return at first light Wednesday, with fire trucks on standby to protect buildings, he said.

He described the scene as “quite horrendous” and said some residents were worried about leaving their homes.

“Some did not want to evacuate, understandably, they wanted to be there to try to protect their homes. There is … great anxiety and concern.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Dave Clark, who has a section on Wharo Way, said firefighters made sure everyone was removed from the area.

Clark described the fire, which burned mainly through native bushes, as massive and said he had never seen anything like it before.

Another resident, Justin Edgecombe, said the fire was being fueled by high winds.

“It’s a huge bush fire coming up the hill from behind [Ahipara]”he told the Herald.

“Wherever I looked at it, it was very far away, but the flames seemed to be probably 30 or 40 meters in the air.”

Local resident Teuri Reihana said the smoke from the fire was “extremely dense”.

“It is one of the biggest fires I have seen here.

“It was so thick that you couldn’t see the mountain, which was only 400 meters away.”

Reihana said it showed no signs of slowing down and remained visible later in the evening.

“I live two kilometers away and I can see the flames clearly from my house.”