Ahipara fire under control, evacuated residents still unable to return home

Far North Mayor John Carter says the Ahipara fire, which forced about 100 homes to be evacuated last night, is a warning about how dry Northland is.

“This is a warning to us. Fortunately, we have come out with no loss of life, loss of property or injury, but all Northland residents and visitors have a responsibility to make sure these kinds of things do not happen again. A massive warning “.

The fire has burned 56ha of native bush and shrubs.

Incident controller Rory Renwick, a FENZ wildfire specialist, said the fire was now 95 percent contained without significant growth.

The number of helicopters in use had been reduced from six to three. Some would remain on hold, while others would be released as the day progressed.

About 25 people, a mix of teams from FENZ, forestry and DOC, were fighting the fire on the ground.

“It’s quiet at the moment and we have the upper hand, but the wind will pick up later in the day, the temperature will rise and the humidity will drop. That will work against us,” Renwick said.

“With the weather forecast, if it does escape, we can expect extreme fire behavior, which means very high rates of spread and intensities that are difficult to control. In some places, we may not be able to stop it. That is why we have the area clear of people. “

Renwick said he expected firefighters to be “chasing hot spots” for several days.

The cause of the fire was being investigated, but if anyone had information about how the fire started, Renwick urged them to call the police on 105 or the Fire and Emergency Department on 09 486 7949.

Six helicopters rose at first light to try to control the blaze burning across a one-square-kilometer block of land, according to Fire and Emergency NZ north shift manager Kaisey Cook. Forty firefighters were fighting the fire on the ground.

Fresh ground personnel were dispatched at 8.30 a.m. M. To begin the long and dirty job of completely extinguishing the fire.

A decision on when to allow residents to return to their homes is expected this morning. Foreshore Rd remains closed.

Charred scrub, marking the furthest reach of the fire, descends the hills behind Ahipara within a few feet of a house off Foreshore Rd. Two other potholes had a very close call.

According to Carter, no property was thought to have been destroyed overnight and no one was injured.

Phelan Pirrie is a firefighter from Muriwai who was vacationing in a caravan in his section of Ahipara. He had brought his firefighting gear in case he could help, but he wasn’t expecting anything on this scale.

“The flames were over 10 meters high. When the scrub reaches a certain temperature, it becomes red hot and explodes. The sound is like a jet engine. We also had some small tornadoes of fire. It was crazy.”

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 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 Carter said evacuation centers were set up, one at the Ahipara Rugby Club and another at the Roma Marae, where evacuations spent the 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.

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.”