Pigeon Valley Fire update 56 08:03 hours 17/02/2019

Update on access arrangement for Valleys residents

Residents of the remaining 14 evacuated properties from Pigeon Valley will have conditional re-entry  from 8am today.

This means that they can reoccupy their properties, including staying overnight if they wish, provided they remain prepared to evacuate again if the situation changes.

Residents of Redwood Valley, Eves Valley and Teapot Valley will have restricted access to their properties for six hours today - from 8am until 2pm.

Civil Defence Controller Roger Ball said that the decisions around access were made after advice from Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Police, taking into account fire behaviour, weather conditions and the ability to re-evacuate residents at short notice if necessary.

Today’s access to Pigeon Valley is for residents only, and Police will maintain checkpoints to enforce this.

Mr Ball said that there was a six hour window for Redwood Valley, Eves Valley and Teapot Valley residents to access their properties today.

“The window has been extended because it is likely that access may not be possible on Monday due to forecast high winds and lower humidity.” 

Today’s decision to enable conditional re-entry for Pigeon Valley means there are 84 properties still evacuate.