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2024 Port Hills fire

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2024 Port Hills fire
The fire on the afternoon of Wednesday 14 February
Date(s)14 February 2024 (2024-02-14) – 6 March 2024 (2024-03-06)
LocationPort Hills, Christchurch, New Zealand
Statistics
Burned area700 hectares (1,700 acres)[1]
Impacts
Structures destroyed1 home

The 2024 Port Hills fire was a wildfire in Christchurch, New Zealand. The fire started at around 2:15 pm NZDT on 14 February 2024 on Worsleys Road. It is close to the location of one of the fires that started on 13 February 2017 which developed into the 2017 Port Hills fires.[2]

At the height of firefighting efforts on 16 February, the fire had spread over 700 hectares[1] and was being fought by over 100 firefighters, 15 helicopters, two fixed-wing planes, and 28 fire engines. 110 properties had been evacuated in total.[3] Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Police are still investigating the cause of the fire, including whether there was any human involvement. Two people were seen on a nearby walking track before they drove away, around the same time the fire started. FENZ and the police are asking for photos and videos taken between 1:30pm and 5pm on the day the fire began.[4]

Events

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Image of a damaged radio repeater site at the top of Marleys Hill on 15 February 2024

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said that dry weather had led to "tinder conditions".[5] Dozens of properties have been evacuated including a nearby hospital.[6] On 14 February a state of emergency was declared in Christchurch and Selwyn.[7] Starting at 2:45pm, for 25 minutes, 39,000 properties were left without power. Transpower believes that it is caused by soot causing an outage at the Bromley substation.[8] As of 15 February, the fire is being fought by 28 fire appliances, 14 helicopters and two retardant-dropping aircraft, which consist 80 Fire and Emergency crews. There are also currently two evacuation hubs.[7]

On the night of 14 February, 80 homes were evacuated, and firefighters created a fire break between Worsleys Spur and Dyers Pass Road.[citation needed] On the night of 17 February and the morning after, a civilian drone caused several helicopters to be grounded.[9]

Origin

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The cause of the fire is currently unknown. Fire and Emergency is asking for photographs of the fire between 1:45pm and 2:45pm to trace the origin, a half hour before and after the fire began.[10] The ignition point of the fire has been identified as within metres of a public walking track in a pine plantation on Worsleys Spur.[11]

Response

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Wednesday 14 February

[edit]

The fire started on the afternoon of Wednesday 14 February on Worsleys Road. Fire and Emergency was alerted to the fire at 2:15pm,[12] and four fire appliances with two helicopters were sent to the scene.[13]

At 2:45pm soot from the fire caused an outage at Transpower's Bromley substation, leaving 39,000 customers without power temporarily.[8]

By 4pm, eleven more fire appliances and eight more helicopters had joined the firefighting efforts.[14] People in the Worsleys Spur area had begun to evacuate by 4:10pm.[15] The Princess Margaret Hospital in nearby Cashmere was also evacuated.[16]

Evacuation centres were set up at Te Hāpua Halswell Library and the Lincoln Event Centre.[17] At 5:10pm, the New Zealand Police began to evacuate houses as far as Early Valley Road,[18] which was the origin location of one of the 2017 fires.

A state of emergency was declared in Christchurch and Selwyn at 6:13pm, to be "better able to coordinate our response across all the various agencies involved".[17]

At 6:17pm, the District Manager for the Canterbury FENZ Dave Stackhouse reported that 130 firefighters and twelve helicopters were onsite. Six properties were at risk from the fire.[19]

Helicopters had to be grounded,[12] but 22 firefighting crews continued to work overnight.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Port Hills fire now '70 per cent contained", Otago Daily Times, 16 February 2024, archived from the original on 21 February 2024, retrieved 21 February 2024
  2. ^ Gibbs, Tatiana (14 February 2024). "State of emergency declared as residents flee homes in wake of massive Port Hills fire". The Press. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  3. ^ Leask, Anna; Franks, Raphael (16 February 2024). "Christchurch Port Hills fire live updates: Families spend another night away from homes". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  4. ^ Sherwood, Sam; Nixon, Pierre (20 February 2024). "Port Hills fire: Christchurch police speak with two people seen on walking track moments before blaze". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Port Hills fire – Expert Reaction". 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Port Hills fire: Battle resumes as flames reach adventure park". NZ Herald. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Christchurch Port Hills fire: What you need to know". RNZ. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  8. ^ a b "39,000 lost power to Christchurch fire". RNZ. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Drone incidents hamper Port Hills firefighting efforts". 1News. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Home destroyed in Port Hills blaze, wind shift possible". 1 News. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Charlie (16 February 2024), "Port Hills fire started in pine trees burned seven years earlier", The Press, retrieved 18 February 2024
  12. ^ a b "Christchurch Port Hills fire: As it happened", RNZ, 14 February 2024, archived from the original on 20 February 2024, retrieved 20 February 2024
  13. ^ "FENZ initial media release". Fire and Emergency New Zealand. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Port Hills fire update #2". Fire and Emergency New Zealand. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Te Whatu Ora health alert". Te Whatu Ora. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  16. ^ Nexon, Pierre (14 February 2024), "Port Hills fire: Large vegetation fire in Christchurch, hospital and residents evacuated, power out", Te Ao Māori News, archived from the original on 20 February 2024, retrieved 20 February 2024
  17. ^ a b "Port Hills fire update". Selwyn District Council. 14 February 2024. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Port Hills fire update #3". Fire and Emergency New Zealand. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  19. ^ "We 'hit it as hard as we could'", The Press, 14 February 2024, retrieved 20 February 2024
  20. ^ "Port Hills fire update #5". Fire and Emergency New Zealand. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
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