Waipara Fire Update #9

7 September 2024

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has handed the site of the Waipara fire back to the landowner.

District Commander Dave Stackhouse says around 20 firefighters supported by heavy machinery worked to extinguish the remaining hotspots across the fire area and to dampen down the skid site today.

"We’ve also established a sprinkler system around the skid site which will operate over the coming days," he says.

"This hard work has paid off and the landowner has been able to take back control of the site.

"They will have additional resources on site and will actively monitor and suppress hot spots as required.

"The owner has a management plan in place and if anything escalates we will be immediately back to assist," he says.

The Waipara fire started in a forestry block on Thursday 29 August and has burnt through approximately 108 hectares of forest area which was a mixture of cut and standing trees.

"We would like to thank all our firefighters, support staff, and contractors for their hard work over the last ten days,’ Dave Stackhouse says.

"A special thank you to the greater Waipara community for their support. It’s been outstanding."

This will be the last Waipara fire update unless there is a significant development. 

The Canterbury District (north of the Rakaia River to just north of Clarence River) continues to have a prohibition on open air fires under Section 52 of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 until 11.59 on Monday 9 September.

Dave Stackhouse says people should also check their old burn piles or burn areas to make sure they are fully extinguished.