It took 12 hours, dozens of firefighters and a helicopter to get a large vegetation fire under control in South Waikato.
An out of control fire in Lichfield was phoned in to Fire and Emergency at 6pm Thursday - the start of a long night for firefighters. The brigade arrived and called for further resources, including a helicopter, to help put it out, shift manager Ryan Geen said. “It looks like the fire was approximately 150m by 150m fuelled by moderate wind conditions. And the material was baby pine and so that was burning.”
Geen said the crew started work to extinguish the fire while waiting for further resources. “At the highest point we had five fire appliances, three water tankers and a helicopter and additional support vehicles as well.” The crews which attended were from Putāruru, Mamaku, Ngongotahā, Rotorua, Lake Ōkareka, Lake Tarawera, Pirongia, with all but the Rotorua crew volunteer firefighters. Geen said the fire was contained by 6am Friday. The area is being monitored for hot spots, and forestry crews and heavy machinery were on site as of just after 6am.
Putāruru Volunteer Fire Brigade posted on Facebook that “it’s been a long 12 hours for around 60 firefighters who have been fighting a 4ha vegetation fire in Lichfield.” They told people that while the fire is contained, there may still see a lot of smoke. “We would like to thank all the Brigades that helped, they came from far and wide.”
An out of control fire in Lichfield was phoned in to Fire and Emergency at 6pm Thursday - the start of a long night for firefighters. The brigade arrived and called for further resources, including a helicopter, to help put it out, shift manager Ryan Geen said. “It looks like the fire was approximately 150m by 150m fuelled by moderate wind conditions. And the material was baby pine and so that was burning.”
Geen said the crew started work to extinguish the fire while waiting for further resources. “At the highest point we had five fire appliances, three water tankers and a helicopter and additional support vehicles as well.” The crews which attended were from Putāruru, Mamaku, Ngongotahā, Rotorua, Lake Ōkareka, Lake Tarawera, Pirongia, with all but the Rotorua crew volunteer firefighters. Geen said the fire was contained by 6am Friday. The area is being monitored for hot spots, and forestry crews and heavy machinery were on site as of just after 6am.
Putāruru Volunteer Fire Brigade posted on Facebook that “it’s been a long 12 hours for around 60 firefighters who have been fighting a 4ha vegetation fire in Lichfield.” They told people that while the fire is contained, there may still see a lot of smoke. “We would like to thank all the Brigades that helped, they came from far and wide.”
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