Pigeon Valley Fire update 33 - 12:30 hours 11/02/2019
11 February 2019
Because of progress that has been made on the fire ground, we are aiming to allow Wakefield residents to return home later today.
Incident Controller Roger Ball said a final decision on this would be made at 4pm today.
Safety will be the main consideration, based on:
- The fire behaviour
- The weather
- The ability of the emergency services to evacuate the town safely and quickly, should conditions change
If all the criteria are met so that a decision is made at 4pm, Wakefield residents will be able to return from 5pm today.
Returning residents need to understand and accept that they will need to be prepared to evacuate again if conditions change.
We are still actively planning for Valley residents to be able to return home. At this stage we are not able to say when that can happen, except that it will not be today. This is because those areas have been affected by the fire so arranging for the safe return of residents is more complex.
However we have continued to enable restricted access for residents of the four Valleys today and will continue to do so on a daily basis, provided the conditions are safe.
We know residents will have some questions about exactly how their return will unfold. If we are able to announce at 4pm that they can go home, we will have more detailed information for them then.
Further updates
Updates will be available on the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence website and facebook page, both Nelson City and Tasman District Council facebook pages and websites, and through Newstalk ZB 1341AM and BrianFm radio at 105.6 FM.
Ends.
Media Contact:
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence and Emergency Management
027 703 0409
Further updates will be provided as soon as it is available.