The fire started on Snodgrass Rd, west of Tauranga, about 3.20pm on Wednesday and a Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) statement on Friday morning said one crew remained at the scene after drone flights identified “two hotspots of concern” overnight.
Fenz incident controller William Pike told the Bay of Plenty Times on Thursday a helicopter and monsoon bucket, 16 fire appliances, dozens of firefighters and thermal-imaging drones helped contain the blaze at its peak on Wednesday.
Kiwifruit vines and kilometres of shelter belt were damaged but no injuries or damaged properties have been reported. Investigations continued but he said the fire was not being treated as suspicious.
The family headed to Bethlehem Shopping Centre for groceries, then ate takeaways in their car. They returned home about 8.30pm and found neighbours queueing at the Armstrong Rd and Snodgrass Rd intersection waiting for the police all-clear to return to their properties. He credited firefighters and police for their efforts to keep people and property safe. He said he understood Copperfield Nurseries on Snodgrass Rd suffered significant damage to some of its trees and a neighbour lost a large shelter belt. The Bay of Plenty Times has contacted the nursery.
“Due to the very unique wind conditions from the west on Wednesday afternoon, the fire took hold and it was a very fast-moving fire with several properties under threat. The fire spread, mainly through spot fires that jumped from a specific point to find the next closest location. “Once the fire gets into shelter belts, the vegetation inside is so dry it becomes quite volatile.”
During the height of the fire, there were about 16 fire appliances and “multiple support vehicles“ and between 40 to 60 firefighters, which included crews from Whakatāne, Waihī, some towards Rotorua Lakes and a crew from Matamata. “This was a big response equivalent to what we call a fourth alarm response.” Pike said a helicopter was brought in on Wednesday night to allow the use of monsoon buckets “up until the twilight hours” and fire crews worked overnight to contain the blaze. There was a flare-up about 1am on Thursday but “our firefighters did a good job to control it very quickly”.
When the second fire truck arrived, “everyone was panicking” and worried it could reach the second property owner’s home, which at one stage was almost surrounded by three blazing shelter belts. He said firefighters did an “amazing job” to stop the fire reaching the home, and it was fortunate that no homes were damaged and no one injured. The man said he was not asked to evacuate but moved out of the danger area.