Nelson bush fire: Fire fears prompt Marlborough flyover to check fire fuel and dryness

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

A special emergency meeting has been held in Marlborough, off the back of farmers calling for a campsite to close because of the fire risks. 

The last-minute meeting was called as the region's concerns are heightened by wildfires being fought over the hill. 

With no significant rain forecast for the next two weeks and resources soaked up in Nelson, fire response capabilities are reduced.

Fire and Emergency Marlborough principal rural fire officer John Foley said the only way to lessen fire ignition risks was to get the public on side. 

**READ MORE:

* More 'fire fuel' in Marlborough this summer, firefighters warn

* 'Extreme' fire risk closes road through NZ's largest farm

* Nelson bush fire: Volunteers 'the backbone' to fighting forest blaze**

The meeting was held at Marlborough District Council on Monday afternoon with representatives from Department of Conservation, Federated Farmers and Wine Marlborough. 

Foley was flying over the region on Tuesday to assess fire fuel and dryness.

'If we get a fire start now, it's going to move pretty quickly, especially if there's wind and slope involved,' he said at the meeting on Monday. 

So far this summer, the several fires they'd fought had been contained pretty quickly. But the district was very dry and the whole Marlborough region was sitting in a total fire ban, Foley said.  

'Any resources that we require for a fire are currently soaked up in Nelson so our response capability is going to be slightly reduced.

'The only way we are going to reduce the risk of ignition is getting the public on side, to buy in,' Foley said. 

The public needed to be thinking twice about any activity they were doing which was generating heat, and whether it needed to be done in the heat of the day, he said. 

'Everyone that works in the rural area need to buy into this and talk to their staff. 

'It doesn't matter whether it's viticulture, forestry or farming, some of the activities that are undertaken at this time of year are quite risky, and have a reasonable chance of starting a fire.'

Maintaining equipment, cleaning gear, and carrying water rather than a fire extinguisher were important for rural workers, Foley said. 

A massive fire covering about 2300 hectares near tinder-dry Nelson had been burning since Tuesday. Civil Defence said on Monday it was still 'unpredictable'.

More than 2600 people had been evacuated from their homes. It's 'almost certain' the fire was caused by agriculture machinery. At least one house near Nelson had been lost.

Tinder dry grass and a lot of wind had farmers beside Marfells Beach, near Seddon, concerned visitors were posing an extra risk in already ripe fire conditions. 

Cooking on a barbecue or a gas stove, stubbing out a cigarette or letting off fireworks were often seen at campsites.

DOC South Marlborough operations manager Phil Bradfield said there was pressure to close Marfells campground. 

'In the last week, I've received a number of emails from locals.'

It was relatively easy to close a campground, but it was much harder to close a reserve, he said. 

'But I guess the biggest worry is that, what do those 50 to 80 campers a night, where do they go?'

Bradfield said he was concerned that if the campground was closed, campers would go looking for places to go freedom camping, where they would be less contained.

On Sunday, the road through Molesworth Station closed to the public due to 'extreme' fire risk. A campsite in the station was also closed. 

Bradfield said they would be guided by advice from FENZ on whether to close the Marfells Beach campground. 

Cape Campbell farmer Sally Peter was calling for the Marfells Beach campsite, which is near her farm, to close until the fire risk was less of a threat.

'It's as big a risk as it is at Molesworth or Rainbow, there's no distinction.'

In the last six months, they had found little camp fires on the coast near the campground, she said. 

'It's distressing in the least. Until it rains, it should be closed and all care should be taken by everyone.'

There was a lot of traffic going through the Marfells Beach campground which had become increasingly popular since the 2016 earthquake, she said. 

'There's more people out there and that's just adding to the fear that we've got.'

Pinoli Limited director Andrew Wiltshire, who farms pine nuts in the area, said crops, and potentially lives, were at risk. 

Two years ago, 'joy riders' lit fireworks on Marfells Beach which caused a fire on his property. The fire spread up the hill and wiped out some of their trees, he said. 

'Just by chance it drizzled that night, otherwise it would have been a lot worse. This is not just a hypothetical issue. 

'We know that most campers are extremely responsible people but there's always a few who don't make the best choices.'

Wiltshire said it was a 'reasonable question' to ask whether or not the campsite should be closed. 

Wairau-Awatere ward councillor Geoff Evans said he had been hearing concerns from farmers all over the province. 

'Everyone is really concerned at the tinder dry-like conditions that we have at the moment.

'If they can close down the road through Molesworth, which they have … it's not too big a call to close down the coastal area where it is so dry.'

People camping were inclined to have a barbecue, he said. 

'Quite reasonably so, but at the moment, it's not safe.'