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Firefighters get call-up for Tasmania

29/1/2016

Stu Lyall (left) and James Werahiko (centre) in the Emergency Operations Centre at Rotorua Lakes Council getting a briefing from Richard Horn.

Two Rotorua firefighters are on their way to Tasmania to help battle extensive bush fires burning in the state. James Werahiko and Stu Lyall were given just 36 hours' notice before flying out at 9.30am today.

Rotorua Lakes Council rural fire zone manager Richard Horn said the pair were chosen because of their high level of experience - both have been firefighters for 18 years. Nearly 80 fires are burning throughout Tasmania, most started by lightning strikes, and have been fuelled by drought conditions and strong winds.

There is a group of 43 New Zealand firefighters leaving for Tasmania today. They come from rural fire authorities in Rotorua, Whangarei, Auckland, Nelson and Invercargill. A Defence Force team and Department of Conservation team will also join the deployment - the 11th to Australia since 2001.

Mr Horn said the team will be firefighting and helping with containment plans for at least 20 days with the potential to stay longer. "They are all happy that they have been selected to go, but also a little bit apprehensive," he said.

Mr Lyall said he was reasonably apprehensive and nervous. "It's a big unknown to me. I haven't been to Australia before. "I have been deployed within New Zealand for other jobs but not to go overseas. "I'm also excited, it's a new adventure to participate in." "My wife has been amazing and she didn't hesitate, she said if you want to go, go."

Mr Lyall has two daughters aged 12 and 13 and a son aged 11. "My girls said they were excited for me, but they were also very worried. "All of my kids are really keen to be part of the volunteer fire service when they get older."

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Large Blaze Took All Resources

26/1/2016

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The smoke rose quickly to fill the sky. Photos / Andrew Warner

Eight fire trucks and more than 35 firefighters battled a large blaze near Rotorua's central city.
The fire broke out at Sulphur Flats about 5.30pm and extended the city's resources. It took about 20 minutes to get under control and was out in just under two hours.

The fire was in an area of about 150m by 15m near the wastewater treatment plant fence line, off Te Ngae Rd, and Puarenga Stream.

The dry area created many hot spots that needed dampening.

Okareka volunteer firefighter Stuart Pinfold said a big team worked to put out the blaze. "It's pretty much extended all of our resources in Rotorua."

Several firefighting crews attended the scene - from Ngongotaha, Okareka and the New Zealand Fire Service and staff from Rotorua Contracting (formerly Castlecorp). Police and St John Ambulance were also in attendance.

Fire Service assistant area commander Brendon Wood said a specialist fire investigator was at the scene working to determine the cause. He said the blaze was contained within 20 minutes but because of the size of the fire, there was a lot of dampening down to do. He said there were also a couple of sulphur fires across the river that were unrelated.

The fire was under control within 20 minutes but firefighters had to work hard to keep it that way.

"But it just goes to show the volatile nature of the terrain, that's why we can't determine the cause until we put the fire out to give someone a chance to get in safely."

The blaze occurred only minutes after putting out a smaller fire off Old Te Ngae Rd.
Cheryl Broock, who was sitting on the hill near the fire, said she lived nearby and could smell the fire. "It is sad if it's another arson case," she said.

St John Ambulance paramedic Mike France said they were on standby because it was a major event, "mainly for (the safety) of the fire guys".

Another witness Myrin Abbott said fires always happened in the area. "It's just part of how dry it is ... It's a decent one."

On November 8 last year another large blaze occurred in the area at Sulphur Bay. That fire took more than four hours to contain with the help of about 10 fire appliances and two helicopters with monsoon buckets. The blaze was on the lake side of Te Ngae Rd between the city and the wastewater treatment plant.

Figures:
* 8 fire trucks were at the scene
* 35 personal were needed to contain the fire
* The fire covered an area of 150m by 15m

- Rotorua Daily Post

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Firefighters Called To Another Larger Blaze

25/1/2016

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The scene of the fire near the Waste Water Treatment plant. PHOTO/KYRA DAWSON

Emergency services are currently at a large blaze east of Rotorua's central city at Sulphur Flats.
Eight fire trucks and more than 35 firefighters were called to battle the blaze near the wastewater treatement plant, off Te Ngae Rd.

The fire, which involves vegetation only, started about 5.30pm and is now under control.
Several firefighting crews are in attendance - from Ngongotaha, Okareka and the New Zealand Fire Service and staff from Rotorua Contracting (formerly Castlecorp). Police and St John Ambulance are also in attendance.

The fire is over an area of about 150m by 15m between part of the wastewater treatment plant fence line and Puarenga Stream. Fire Service assistant area commander Brendon Wood said a specialist fire investigator was at the scene working to determine the cause. He said the blaze was contained within 20 minutes but because of the size of the fire, there was a lot of dampening down to do. He said there were also a couple of sulphur fires across the river that were unrelated. "But it just goes to show the volatile nature of the terrain, that's why we can't determine the cause until we put the fire out to give someone a chance to get in safely."

Only minutes after putting out a fire off Old Te Ngae Rd, firefighters were called to the bigger blaze. Reporter Kyra Dawson at the scene said the blaze was a lot bigger than the earlier fire and large plumes of smoke could be seen. "There is a lot of dark smoke. The fire trucks were having trouble getting access. There is just heaps of smoke." Cheryl Broock, who is sitting on the hill near the fire, said she lived nearby and could smell the fire. "It is sad if it's another arson case," she said.

Northern Fire Communications shift manager Steve Smith said the scrub fire started at 5.30pm.
There are currently six fire engines there fighting the blaze. St John Ambulance paramedic Mike France said: "We are on standby because it is a major event, mainly for (the safety) of the fire guys." Another witness Myrin Abbott said fires always happened in the area. "It's just part of how dry it is... It's a decent one."

Okareka volunteer firefighter Stuart Pinfold said there was a big team working to put out the blaze. "It's pretty much extended all of our resources in Rotorua."

- Rotorua Daily Post

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Operations Manager Jumps Into Role

21/1/2016

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Rotorua Airport's new fire and operations manager John Harrison.

Rotorua's John Harrison has traded in his parachute to take on his new role as Rotorua Airport's fire and operations manager.

Clocking up more than 1400 parachute jumps, Mr Harrison has trained New Zealand Defence Force and foreign military personnel around the world to do the same.

Settling back in Rotorua with his young family, Mr Harrison has returned to his first love of firefighting, and sees the move home as a chance to give back to the community in which he grew up.

Growing up at Lake Okareka, Mr Harrison always had his heart set on being a fireman and volunteered for the Lake Okareka Volunteer Rural Fire Force for four years from the age of 15.
"I always wanted to be a fireman and when I left school the New Zealand Fire Service wasn't recruiting, so instead I joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a fireman," Mr Harrison said.
After reaching the rank of senior fireman, Mr Harrison signed up for a parachute course and quickly became hooked, going on to train New Zealand defence personnel.

"My step-father was in the British Army, his influence got me into jumping, as well as the fact that the hangar was right next to the fire station.

"When I first started, the parachutes were terrible - they were old, so they fell really quickly and they also had no brakes or steering. By the time I left my position, I was running the advanced training cell with experience in every aspect, from round parachutes to square parachutes, freefall and tandem jumping, dispatching vehicles from a C-130 Hercules military aircraft and instructing instructors."

Mr Harrison said his needs changed with a young family and it was time to apply his military skills to the civilian sector.

His new role at Rotorua Airport is no small task, encompassing every aspect of running the airport including fire safety, security, runway inspections, maintenance, parking and managing the contractors.

"I'm really looking forward to sinking my teeth into a job that I can happily spend the next 10 years in. My role is almost a combination of everything I've learnt," he said.

- Rotorua Daily Post

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2016 Victoria Bushfire Deployment Newsletter

20/1/2016

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More hard grind Taskforce Bravo (or as Alpha called them the ‘B team’) have been assigned to the same general area (as Taskforce Alpha), doing similar work.

The progress toward containment remains slow, because the areas first need to be assessed and tree hazard removed, and because of the steep slopes there is a need to look at the trees (a long way above where the crews are planning to work) as there is a potential for the trees to fall, and then slide down the hill.

To gain access, the crews need to cut lines through the fallen trees and cut bench tracking into the hillsides before they can start patrolling for hot spots, of which there are still quite a few.

In the meantime heavy helicopters work to stop the smouldering hotspots from flaring up (until the crews are able to get to them).

Photo: Southland crew clear access and start benching.

The fire remains uncontained on the western edge with hot spots on the perimeter (where NZ Taskforce Alpha were reassigned on Friday).

Access to this area is via ridgelines down into steep valleys. This means after a long drive into the fire ground there is a long walk down into the valleys, made even slower by access (requiring trees to be assessed along the way, and removed if there is a risk they may fall).

Photo: Well resourced

Sikorsky S-61 lifting around 4500 litre per load, and costing a bit more than a Kiwi Taskforce of 22 people.

Aircraft are effective at holding a fire but these large helicopters have been on this fire for a few weeks, which demonstrates how ineffective they are at putting out the last smouldering remains of the fire, which is required to prevent the fire from flaring up at a later stage.

Spike Day

You may recall in the last newsletter there was prediction of a spike day for Wednesday, 13 January.

Preparations for this possible event were extensive across the state, with, some parks closed, crews on standby, and around 50 aircraft prepositioned around the state, as well as regional co-ordination centres being manned to manage incidents if and when they arrived.

Even the police were focussed on fire for the day, monitoring known/suspected arsonists and problem areas.

The Emergency Management Commissioner summed it up well at the start of the day during the teleconference/briefing when he said “don’t under estimate our initial attack capability”. In other words don’t muck around, get in there and hit the fires before they take hold.

It was clear from the forecast there were going to be new fires to attack, but it was not clear where or when they were going to occur.

Not much happened during Wednesday morning, but in the afternoon things became quite active, with temperatures into the early 40s, winds of 30-40km, low humidity, as well as thunderstorms (both wet and dry). Over a period of a couple of hours there were around 30 new fires started.

For the crews on the Wye River - Jameson Track fire (both NZ Taskforces) the spike day meant the plan was to stay by the tracks, so they had escape routes. However, even this plan changed when a thunderstorm came to the fire-ground bringing gusts reported to be above 100km per hour.

With the high winds approaching, the crews withdrew from the forest. The work from the previous days paid off as the fire was held within its boundaries, with only one hotspot, which tried to break out but was held by the aircraft.

Meanwhile, another thunderstorm came to visit the base camp. Buses were parked across the upwind side of the camp in an attempt to provide some shelter, but the wind still managed to knock down and damage about 90 tents. Fortunately, there was plenty of time for new tents to be put up before nightfall.

Photo: Tent damage from thunder storm.

Kevin O’Conner Visits The Troops

The National Rural Fire Officer, Kevin O’Conner visited the emergency co-ordination centre and also caught up with Taskforce Bravo on the fire-ground, as well as Taskforce Alpha while they were on R&R.

Photo: That’s ginger beer on the tables.

State Wide Situation

The Wye River – Jamieson Track fire which destroyed 116 houses on Christmas day is still going and is predicted to burn for a number of weeks.

The Cann River – Point Hicks Road fire has been quiet and is being tracked in difficult terrain.

Media messages were sent about smoke from Tasmanian fires drifting across southern Victoria to inform community members concerned about smoke across Victoria.

New fires that started today have been brought quickly under control.

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2016 Victoria Bushfire Deployment Newsletter

16/1/2016

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New Zealand Taskforce Bravo

NZ Taskforce Bravo arrived on Monday (11 January) evening, with almost all of their luggage. One of the team can blame the luggage handlers in Auckland who did not transfer his bag to the connecting flight (all now sorted after a bit of running around).

However, someone else left their bag in the customs handling area, which by some miracle, did not result in activation of the bomb squad. We will let you work out who the forgetful one was, and in the meantime we will make sure he does not forget about this incident for some time!

After resting up for the night in a motel near the airport, Taskforce Bravo headed to Altona for the briefing about the typical conditions faced in Victoria, to ensure they are able to work safely and effectively. After briefings they were allocated vehicles and equipment.

Appliances, or any vehicles with capacity to carry water for firefighting, are scarce at the moment, so the team have only been given Utes and SUVs with a selection of hand tools. Contrary to common belief, a firefighter who knows what they are doing can be extremely effective without hose and water.

Photo: The classroom style briefing is a bit hard for keen action focussed people, but it is necessary to make sure that people from various parts of the country are all clear on what they are in for.

Photo: Scott and Kevin organise the troops and the troops organise the tools.

Photo: Team photo before they head off toward base camp at the Birregurra footy fields.

State Wide Situation

The main bushfire of significance remains the Wye River – Jamieson Track. However, yesterday (Tuesday, 12 January) there was also a small (140ha) breakout from a pre-Christmas fire previously believed to be under control.

There was also a fire in Melbourne where an area of tyres (about the size of a rugby field and up to 4m deep) caught fire, causing a significant smoke problem, for part of the city, and occupied two of the Skycrane heavy lift helicopters.

Photo: Tyre fire in Melbourne Suburbs receiving water drop from Skycrane.

Outlook

The forecast for today (Wednesday, 13 January) is for an increase in Fire Danger tomorrow, with some regions reaching Extreme, and a wind change in the afternoon.

Thursday (14 January) is predicted to bring a belt of rain across the state, which will temporarily reduce the fire danger.

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Local Firefighters To Help Aussie Efforts

12/1/2016

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Aussie firefighters attend to a fast moving grass fire in Melbourne, Victoria.

A group of Rotorua rural firefighters has headed to Victoria to help fight the fires burning in the Australian state.

The group of five from Pumicelands Rural Fire Authority are part of a team of 22 firefighters who flew out to Australia yesterday. They will join 23 other New Zealand firefighters already in Victoria.

Pumicelands Rural Fire Authority principal rural fire officer Paul Wright said the local team was made up of firefighters from the Rotorua Lakes team, Department of Conservation and the Whakatane District Council. He said firefighters underwent extensive training regimes before they were able to go on overseas missions like this, and the district was fortunate to have a lot of good firefighters. Mr Wright said the firefighters would return with valuable experience. "That experience we bring home. We are fortunate that we don't have fires of that scale here."

National rural fire officer Kevin O'Connor said crews already there were making good progress building containment lines around the fires, which were still burning on a 40km front around Victoria's southwest coast. Mr O'Connor said the fire danger remained "very high" and both deployments were scheduled to last up to three weeks. There was a possibility that could be extended, depending on conditions.

The fires were sparked last month after lightning strikes.

- Rotorua Daily Post

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