Canterbury fire evacuees are set to return home after a close call, but need to stay prepared for possible future evacuations if conditions change.
The fire at Pegasus Beach, north of Christchurch, has ravaged more than 200 hectares of coastland since igniting about 8pm on Wednesday.
Police area commander Peter Cooper said officers were following strong lines of inquiries but early indications were that fireworks may have been involved.
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The 130 evacuated residents of the Woodend Beach Holiday Park would be allowed to return home from 5pm through a “managed reoccupation”.
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ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF
Tina Archbold, who was staying at Woodend Beach Holiday Park, describes her horror after waking up to smoke in her caravan and fireballs outside.
Flames 6m high reached the tops of large trees and the edge of the holiday park after the blaze broke out.
Incident controller Dave Berry said the situation was safe enough for residents to return home, but they should be prepared for future evacuations if conditions changed.
Berry said crews would control and monitor the fire throughout Thursday night and helicopters and planes would continue to drop water on the fire.
Ground crews would tackle spot fires and hotspots and “firm up the containment lines on the flanks of the fire”.
A fire investigation team would continue to investigate how the fire started and a further update was expected to be released on Friday.
Chris Skelton/Stuff
Helicopters carrying monsoon buckets hover over a fire just north of Christchurch at Pegasus Beach.
Fireworks only went on sale on Wednesday, the day the fire broke out, and laws say they can only be lit from people’s own homes, and in calm conditions.
One woman staying at the campground described waking to the stench of smoke filling her caravan and opening the door to find a “huge fireball” right next to them.
Firefighters worked through the night to tackle the blaze and helicopters with monsoon buckets have been in the air from early on Thursday to drop thousands of litres of water in an effort to douse the fire.
Two waterbombing planes also joined the air attack.
Peter Wright/Supplied
A view of the fire, taken on Wednesday night.
Berry said the fire was about 184ha, spanning 5.5km of the coast north of the Waimakariri River.
Efforts were hampered by winds of up to 80kph and firefighters also struggled to reach the blaze to get water on it because of soft and dangerous sand dunes.
No property was damaged and about 50 evacuees stayed at the Woodend Community Centre.
Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon said on Thursday morning they were in “good spirits”.
More than 80 race horses were also evacuated from the Woodend area overnight as the fire burned.
Health officials are advising people affected by smoke to close windows and doors, stay inside if it’s safe to do so and avoid or reduce outdoor exercise.
Police said two people had also been seen acting suspiciously inside the cordon on Thursday morning, and officers were now speaking with them.
It is not believed at this stage they are linked to how the fire started.
Waking to a “huge fireball”
Campground resident Tina Archbold woke about 10pm on Thursday to the smell of smoke in her caravan and her neighbour knocking on her door telling her she needed to evacuate.
She had left her roof window of the caravan open because it was a hot night.
Alden Williams/Stuff
Christchurch woman Tina Archbold says her caravan was full of smoke when she woke up.
“I woke up, adjusted my eyes and realised the caravan was full of smoke. I went outside and just saw a huge fireball next to us.
“It was huge, it was right there.”
Archbold got out straight away and joined her neighbour, and the pair went from caravan to caravan telling people to evacuate.
She stayed with relatives overnight and has spent the morning at the community centre waiting for updates.
“We just want to get home and be around our stuff. We’re so grateful it hasn’t burned down because we were worried about that last night.
“We all came out alive, we don’t have much, what we’ve got is what we’ve got, so we’ll appreciate that even more now.”
Jason Marsden/Stuff
An aerial photo from the skies above North Canterbury on Thursday morning shows the extent of the Pegasus Bay bushfire.
Archbold was emotional while talking about the experience, and said she was feeling tired and emotional and eager to get home.
“I’m just tired but so grateful.
“With the smoke that was in my caravan, if I didn’t wake up it could have been different, but very grateful.”
She said the community were told they were hoping to allow people back in to get things like medication and clothes, and would know more at 2pm.
Pegasus Beach resident Rachel Malloch told 1News of her panic and fear as the fire raced down the beach.
“We saw huge fireballs exploding in the trees and whole trees on fire.”
She said the flames were up to 30m into the air.
Alden Williams/Stuff
Erueti TePou has a house bus at the Woodend Beach Holiday Park. He was away in Hanmer Springs for work when he got a call from his partner letting him know about the fire.
Among those at the community centre was Erueti TePou, who came back on Thursday morning from being away with work because he has a house bus at the holiday park’s campground.
He was at Hanmer Springs when he got a call from his partner up north letting him know about the fire.
“I made the decision to stay at work because there was nothing I could do.”I knew it was a safety precaution. I knew that the bus would be okay, I was more worried about the people not the possessions.
“The bus is OK, the car is OK and everything is OK. For people for some that’s all they have. I’m not worried about possessions.”
TePou said everyone was being well looked after at the community centre. He was feeling tired but OK, he said. “It’s just life, we just get on with it. Life goes on.”
Blaze ‘caused by fireworks’
In an update to residents on Thursday morning, fire investigator Wayne Hamilton said: “The operation crew were pretty happy with how they’re sitting at the moment. We’ll continue to work to make the area safe, particularly around the housing area.
“We want to keep them out safely, not let them back in then the weather changes.”
On the possible cause, Cooper: “Our early indications are that probably fireworks were involved, but we haven’t been able to establish the full facts yet.”
Chris Skelton/Stuff
Helicopters took water from ponds on neighbouring farms to tackle the blaze.
Berry said they had aimed to make as much progress as possible to knock the fire back before winds increased again later in the morning, and firefighters were creating a firebreak to stop the blaze reaching Pines Beach, to the south.
Helicopter crews used a pond on a neighbouring farmer’s land to fill up with water, centering their efforts on an area of pine trees near the beach at Woodend.
One nearby beef farmer on the western edge of the fire was concerned at the size of the blaze but was hopeful the breeze would it away from his property.
Another feared it would take hold in the thick pine plantations between the Woodend and Pines Beach.
Battling the fire
Emergency services were first called to the fire at 7.53pm on Wednesday, to Pegasus Bay Walkway near Tiritiri Moana Drive. It is near Woodend, which is about 25km north of Christchurch.
Kristie Boland/Stuff
Fire and Emergency NZ incident controller Colin Russell and Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon update the public about the bushfire in Pegasus Bay near Woodend on Thursday morning.
Firefighters carried out structure protection at the camping ground and tackled spot fires in the night. Heavy machinery was used to create a firebreak on Pipeline Road, which runs off Ferry Road and the Pines Beach end.
On Thursday, four helicopters and seven fire crews supported by tankers fought to bring the blaze under control, Fire and Emergency NZ incident controller Colin Russell said at a press conference at 7.30am, while there was also an aerial examination of the area.
“It’s very hard for the crews to get into the hot spots and get water on the fire. The sand dunes under foot are very soft and dangerous,” Russell said.
Seventy firefighters helped tackle the blaze, along with helicopters, two bulldozers and two diggers.
The fire reached the boundary of the holiday park along the fence line, and flames 6m high were reaching the crowns of large trees.
Supplied
The Pegasus beach fire, as seen from Infinity Drive looking south-east on Wednesday night.
Smoke from the blaze could be smelled across the city on Thursday morning, the stench reaching residents in the Port Hills, more than 35km to the south.
Weather conditions in Christchurch are expected to stay mainly fine throughout the day, with possible showers in the afternoon or evening.
But conditions at the fire scene are blustery, with winds reaching gusts of between 50kph and 80kph in the morning.
It was expected to remain windy through the afternoon, easing by early evening. Temperatures in the area were expected to reach a high of 24C by mid-afternoon.
