Fire burns for three days

AERIAL ASSAULT: Helicopter and monsoon bucket battled the blaze for two-and- a-half hours on day two. 022081BD

Dry and windy conditions, which contributed to three callouts to an out of control burnoff at Puahue, has seen Waipa Rural Fire Officer, Chuck Davis, declare a ‘very high’ fire risk, so Waipa District Council is revoking all fire permits until conditions ease.

Mr Davis says that the risk is currently two-fold.

“It’s not just the dry and dusty ground that we are worried about, it’s embers being caught in a breeze, being carried to other areas, and starting fires there too.”

Council will not be issuing any new permits, and all current permits will be revoked until further notice.

Weather and ground conditions will be continually monitored, and permit holders will be able to re-apply as soon as they ease. There will be no costs associated with re-applying for permits.

The fire at a Parklands Road property vindicates Council’s decision.

Incident controller, firefighter Michael Kimber says up to 30 firefighters from Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Otorohanga and Pirongia were fighting the fire at one time.

The first callout was received last Tuesday evening when a permitted burn-off got out of control. The four brigades, with their appliances and tankers, spent about three hours bringing the fire under control.

On Wednesday evening a wind change resulted in hot-spots re-igniting and a new fire started.

Again the four brigades attended and this time reinforcements were needed. A helicopter with monsoon bucket joined the fight for two-and-a-half hours to help the crews get the fire under control. The last of the firefighters left the scene at about 9.30pm, only to receive a third callout Friday morning to attend to hot spots again.

One appliance and the Pirongia tanker were deployed to finally quell the fire.