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People evacuated due to a large wildfire in the far north are allowed to return home, but were warned to be ready to leave again on short notice.
More than 100 properties were evacuated overnight after a fire engulfed the Gumfields Historic Reserve, just south of the small town of Ahipara.
Several crews and helicopters were first called to the blaze at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach around 5.45 p.m. Tuesday.
Jade Weaver / Supplied
Photos taken Wednesday morning show how close the fire came to the houses.
On Wednesday morning, Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) said the fire had devastated some 56 hectares. About 40 crew members were still on the ground, supported by six helicopters.
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* Far North Fire: Residents flee their homes while the fire is ‘not contained’ overnight
Incident Controller Rory Renwick said it was now safe for residents of Foreshore Rd, including Tasman Heights, to return to their homes.
Goalkeeper Medadane / Provided
About 100 homes have been evacuated.
“For the other residents, primarily those on Reef View Rd, we will continue to check the areas around their homes and let them in when it is safe to do so.”
He said the goal today is to keep the fire within the identified perimeter.
Do you live in the area affected by the fire? Contact [email protected] or call 09374 4752
FENZ is asking people in the area to stay away from the beach and the fire site as firefighting operations continue.
Goalkeeper Medadane / Provided
Medadane Kipa, a resident of Ahipara, does not believe that her house was not destroyed as the fire was “massive”.
Those who had to leave home spent the night at the local rugby club and the Roma Marae.
Reef View Rd resident Medadane Kipa said ash began “raining down” on the neighborhood half an hour after the fire started.
“I saw the big plume of smoke and I thought ‘woah, that’s close.’
After about half an hour, he left his home because it had become “too smoky” and then heard from a neighbor that they had been evacuated.
Jade Weaver / Supplied
The helicopters were forced to leave the fire when it got dark.
Kipa then went to a friend’s house on nearby Foreshore Rd, but they were later evacuated as well, so he spent the night at his father’s house in Kaitaia.
She was so worried about the fire that it was around 3 in the morning until she managed to fall asleep.
“I thought there was no way the houses weren’t going to burn. It was so close and it was huge. “
Jade Weaver / Things
Smoke comes out of the large forest fire in the Gumfields Historic Reserve near Ahipara in the Far North.
In the morning, a friend told her that all the houses were safe, news that made Kipa cry.
On Wednesday morning, the smoke was not as intense, he said, adding that he hoped firefighters were fine.
He planned to spend the morning feeding mincemeat and sausages from his father’s butcher shop to those who had been evacuated.
Jade Weaver
Thick smoke now engulfs the small Northland town of Ahipara after a major bushfire.
At 8 p.m. Tuesday, police officers told Jade Weaver, who is staying with her parents in Tasman Heights in Ahipara, that the fire was unpredictable and could get worse.
He had previously called emergency services after seeing smoke and flames.
“We saw the first helicopter come and dive into the ocean with a bucket of water, but we can’t see too much anymore because there is too much smoke.
“There is a lot of ash raining from the sky.”
Weaver said the fire was going up the hill quickly and “definitely made it to the top.”
Speaking Wednesday morning, Weaver said the entire hill was “charred and black” with “just a line of green” in front of the houses.
Jade Weaver / Supplied
The hill above Ahipara is charred after the fire burned overnight.
With the road still closed, he was only able to assess the damage from a distance, but said it appeared the fire had been as close as 100 meters to people’s homes.
His mother’s home was among those evacuated and they spent the night with other family members.
He said his adoptive uncle went down to the beach in the early hours of the morning: “I could see whole trees burning in flames, they threw a fireball into the air that lit up the beach.”
FENZ / Supplied
The helicopters collect seawater to deal with the fire.
On Wednesday morning, FENZ imposed a total fire ban on Northland.
“It is very dry in the Far North, and we want to take all possible measures to reduce the risk of potentially dangerous fires, as we are dealing with in Ahipara,” said Chief Rural Fire Officer Myles Taylor.
In October, at least four houses in the Ahipara area were evacuated due to a bush fire that covered 10 hectares near the southern end of Ninety Miles Beach.
