THE FOREST FIRES

                A forest fire is an uncontrollable fire occurring in nature. Sometimes, the forest fire is so large that it takes a long time for the fire fighting crews to gain control over the situation. This could result in massive destruction.

 

 

      Marlborough forest fire continues to burn out of control by Saturday Dec 12, 2015.

 

 

    Fire fighters, helicopters, and planes are battling a fire west of Blenheim.

 

 

An out of control fire in Marlborough has engulfed about 1000 rugby fields of pine forest, making it the biggest fire in the region in 15 years.

The 1150 hectares fire has been burning in the Wairau Valley, west of Blenheim, since about 11.30am on Thursday.

Bloom of smoke over the Waihopai Valley are understood to have caused some people to leave their homes.

According to the news reported, even though almost 4ml of rain fell overnight, the fire, was still out of control.

While the current window of opportunity to go after it maybe short-lived as the wind was forecast to pick up in the afternoon. This could make the situation too dangerous  for crew  who had need to be pulled back.

 

 

 

 

 

A helicopter returns to Omaka Airfield after battling a large forest fire in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. A thick plume of smoke hung over the region at sunset on Thursday.

About 15 aircraft were dispatched to fight the fire on Friday, including two fixed-wing planes from north Canterbury with the capacity to dump two tonnes of water each.

A thick haze of cloud and smoke had settled over the valley, which only high temperatures or stong winds would move, causing visibility issues for aircraft, Hayles said.

There are some information for Waihopai residents such as keep off the roads as much as possible to allow tankers to get through.

If leaving the house for the night or long periods, tell council to allow prioritisation of evacuations.

Move stock to flattest, greenest pasture.

Ensure driveway is clear of overhanging branches so large tankers can enter property.

Water lawn surrounding house.

Remove combustible material near house, especially firewood.

Remove dry plant material from guttering on roof and etc.

Marlborough Emergency Headquarter spokeswoman Karen Fisher said the fire had gone up the ridge and smoke was blowing over the Waihopai Valley.

 "They've got machinery in there to try and carve some fire breaks," she said"They [firefighters on the ground] will be up there and around and so forth. The biggest problem yesterday was getting the water in."Firefighters would be tackling the blaze "around the edges a little bit . . . but it's not a ground attack". Fisher understood some Waihopai Valley families had left their homes overnight "because of the smoke".

The majority of the fire was burning through Nelson Forests production blocks but two private forestry blocks had also been affected.On Thursday, authorities said the fire covered between 100 and 200 hectares, mostly over land belonging to Nelson Forests.

"It's not under control yet and it will be some time [before it is]," Fisher said.Temperatures were expected to reach a high of 25 degrees Celsius in Blenheim on Friday and rain might develop in the evening.The region's rural fire chief Richard McNamara said the weather conditions were much better than those which hampered containment efforts during the Waikakaho Valley fire two weeks ago.