Blog Archives

Drones Support Rural Firefighters In The Port Hills

26/2/2017

Lake Okareka rural firefighters are leading the way with tablets, drones and thermal cameras on the fire ground. Lake Okareka deputy rural fire officer David Herries explains the work his team from Interpine Innovation are doing with UAV/Drones. He describes how they are using drones, while rural firefighter put the information into use on the ground, by using smartphones and FLIR One thermal cameras at the Port Hills Fire complex.

Drone technology is providing vital information and support for firefighters in the Port Hills. In this clip operations manager Dave Herries explains how the drones are making a difference.

Last night, thermal imaging drones used to identify hotspots showed temperatures of more than 100 degrees in the pine forest. Civil Defence says hotspots are continually being dampened in residential properties in upper Summit Road and Worsleys Road.

Three cordons remain on Dyers Pass Road and preparations are underway to have the road open as soon as possible. Civil Defence says some residents are permitted access to their properties and will update if anything changed.

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Last 10% Of Port Hills Fire To Take A Month To Extinguish

26/2/2017

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Although much of the flames have been extinguished it could be weeks before all Port Hills hotspots have been discovered. Dave Herries Lake Okareka Deputy Rural Fire Officer explains the risks associated with the public flying drones over vegetation fires. Source: 1 News

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Rotorua Firefighters Bolster Port Hills Effort

24/2/2017

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Phil Muldoon and the crew before heading down to assist the Port Hills efforts.

Five Rotorua volunteer firefighters have taken leave from their jobs and families to help battle the ongoing fire situation in Christchurch's Port Hills. The firefighters - Phil Muldoon, Ray Doyle, Stu Lyall, Roi Toia and Blair Gilbert - are from Lake Okareka Volunteer Fire Force, and are helping other crews with the remaining efforts.

Although the fire is now contained, Mr Muldoon, the chief rural fire officer for Lake Okareka, told the Rotorua Daily Post the crew were hard at work helping where they could. "It's actually quite strenuous and it's long days. We're up at about 5 in the morning, and we're back around 7 or 8 at night," Mr Muldoon said. Mr Muldoon said the five travelled down in their fire truck on Monday night, and arrived on Tuesday evening. He said they're likely to return next Friday - nine full days.

Christchurch City Council said most of the fire was now under control, the last major cordon for residents has been lifted and most evacuees had returned home. Nevertheless, a state of emergency is still in place and fire services are continuing operations because of the risk of flare-ups in forecast warmer weather.

Port Hills is the Lake Okareka crew's third external fire deployment this summer - following January's Whitianga fire and Te Pohue's 100 hectare fire, inland of Napier, earlier this month. "This is my ninth deployment and it's Ray Doyle's seventh deployment, so we're very experienced," Mr Muldoon said.

Mr Muldoon said the crew could not be there helping if it wasn't for the generosity of their employers agreeing to give them time off. "We appreciate the support from our employers for releasing us to be able to assist in other areas. That's very important, when you volunteer."

Pumicelands Rural Fire Authority chief executive Paul Wright said it had been an unusually busy season. There are 25 Pumicelands-area firefighters helping in Christchurch. "We've been able to release quite a few of our firefighters to go to these incidents," Mr Wright said. "This year we've had it all - we've got people involved in the incident management teams, right through to the actual firefighters doing the hard work on the ground."

He said while the fire was contained on the surface, the battle had now moved underground. Buried logs and tree roots can catch fire and cause fires to flare up. "That's what the crews are doing down there now - they're not fighting a fire, they're digging out hotspots and hosing them out with water. That's where most of the work is. It's very hard work."

The image below shows the extent of the fire damage. The red is un-burnt vegetation, shown in two photos: the left image was taken last year and the right was on Monday.

DEIMOS2 captured the Port Hills in Christchurch, NZ, before & after devastating fire.

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Local firefighters Not Yet Needed For Christchurch

17/2/2017

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Local firefighters could head to Christchurch next week as the fire in the Port Hills area continues to burn out of control. The Rotorua-based firefighters were among 26 in the wider Pumicelands area who had been waiting to hear whether they will be needed to help those on the ground but have now been told to stand down until Sunday.

Pumicelands principal rural fire officer Paul Wright said while they were waiting for news, they had today been loading up about 14 tonnes of chemicals which were going down to Christchurch to help in the firefighting effort. Mr Wright said the chemicals included 6000 litres of a foam that was added to water to make it more effective in fighting the fire, as well as about 4.5 tonnes of Phos-Chek - a fire retardant which is put ahead of the fire to act as a chemical firebreak. Because of pressure on commercial trucking firms, a fire truck from Tauranga was taking the chemicals down, crossing over Cook Strait in the early hours of tomorrow morning and expected in Christchurch tomorrow afternoon, Mr Wright said. "We had to use a fire service truck out of Tauranga which is loading up here and taking it down all the way to Canterbury. Two drivers will share the driving."

Loading a truck with fire fighting chemicals at the Rotorua Fire Station. Tauranga fire fighter Kevin Davies. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

Mr Wright said it was an anxious wait for those who had offered to go down. "This is what they train for. Most of these guys are pretty excited about getting deployments." However, he said they were hoping to get a quick decision on how many people and who were going. "They're not sure whether they need to get replacements for their day jobs ... for them and their employers and their families it is unsettling waiting for a decision." Mr Wright said they had anticipated being needed.

"We anticipated the call for support [on Wednesday] even before we were asked." He said given 15 people from Pumicelands were already in Hawke's Bay, it was great to see the response from those willing to do it. "It is good. I think it shows the willingness of volunteers to not only look after their own community but others."

Mr Wright said the aim was to send fire crews from across the Pumicelands area so they didn't deplete any one location. He said he felt for the crews in Christchurch dealing with difficult topography and unexpected wind shifts. Pumicelands is the organisation responsible for rural fire in the Central North Island.

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Firefighters Battle 200ha Scrub Fire From Air And Ground

9/2/2017

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Emergency fire services continued to fight a 190ha fire between Puketitiri and Te Pohue yesterday which started on Monday.

Emergency fire services continued to battle a large rural fire in Hawke's Bay yesterday which was first reported about 2pm on Monday. And it could continue to burn for a week.

The fire, located in steep hill country between Te Pohue and Puketitiri, had grown to about 190ha yesterday despite the efforts of fire services. Six helicopters poured water on to the blaze while ground crews were dropped in to attack hotspots with shovels. The ground crews dug out hotspots for the helicopters which, taking water from the Ripia River, then doused with water. About 20 firefighters worked on the ground and were pulled out about 6pm, while helicopters continued until 7pm. As crews worked to contain the fire yesterday afternoon the temperature slowly dropped and Hawke's Bay received some much-welcomed rain.

Hastings District Council principal rural fire officer Trevor Mitchell said the change in weather was "all good news". "The temperature had dropped from 32 degrees this morning to 22 degrees this afternoon, and we've got a few spots of rain," he said. However Mr Mitchell said it would still be a "very difficult, long, slow job" to fully extinguish the fire. He expected fire crews would be on the ground for at least a week, possibly longer. "It's burning in old man beech that's been dead a long time," he said.

Mohaka Rafting employee Sarah Stinson said yesterday afternoon the area had received some "much needed rain". "We just had a pretty big front roll in. It's pouring with rain right now," she said. Ms Stinson said although she had seen smoke yesterday the business, located on State Highway 5, was not affected. Helicopters and ground crews were expected back at the scene today, however the Hastings Rural Fire Authority planned to reduce the number of helicopters to three if possible.

A fire investigator has arrived in Hawke's Bay to begin an inquiry into the cause of the blaze.

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Rural Hawke's Bay Fire Could Burn For Weeks

8/2/2017

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Helicopters and ground crews will return to a scrub fire at first light near SH5 between Napier and Taupo.

The fire service received a call to a vegetation blaze about 2pm, but pulled crews out of the remote spot at nightfall on Monday. Crews will return at first light, but the fire could burn for weeks, Eastern and Central North Island rural fire authority manager Paul Baker said. "In the kind of drought conditions we have got everything is so dry in the forest that something like this could be burning or smouldering for weeks." No homes are at risk, Baker said. "It's too remote for that. [There are no homes] for many kilometres." It is understood there's no threat to wildlife who will "move off" Baker said.

On Tuesday, ground crews from Turangi, Taupo and Rotorua will join helicopters to battle the blaze, he said. There's a rain forecast for the area on Wednesday, but it's "very unlikely much of the rain will get over the ranges". Baker said the service was also aware of smaller fires in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, and noted it was the driest summer the region had seen since 1905.

The fire is in a forest in Ripia, a catchment between Hastings and Taupo in "rough hill country" in Hawke's Bay, Baker said. It's about 65km north-west of Napier, near the State Highway 5 trunkline to Taupo.

BUSH BLAZE: Fire crews are back out at a Manuka and beech forest fire which started yesterday afternoon.

There is very limited road access to the rural area. Six helicopters fought the blaze on Monday, which was about 20ha by 3pm, and an aircraft specialist from Masterton was flown up to run the aircraft operation. Additional crews are due to arrive on Tuesday morning. The fire would have spread since 3pm but Baker was not sure by how much. "We are giving it all we have and we are dealing with it successfully."

No one has been injured in the fire. It remains unclear how the blaze began.

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