Port Hills fire - Feb 14

[spwill]

A gusty wind change later today will be something to watch for flare ups..

[Razor]

Very gusty from the NW here in Lincoln right now. Not ideal.

[Storm Struck]

Personally I believe if there is a local state of emergency for Banks Peninsula they need to close all reserves and parks until it is safe enough.

That would IMHO be a serious case of overkill, akin to closing all the streets in town because of an accident at one area

Yes very true. Was more thinking this would keep out any potential fire bugs as there seemed to be someone lighting them in Rolleston and Rakaia today.

Thankfully the NW has dropped here with much lighter winds and behind the arch cloud on 24C.
Aircraft and choppers still very much involved, but huge praises to them on the efforts these past few days.

[JP.]

There was a scrub fire in springston this afternoon then someone set the old Antonio halls in riccarton on fire for the umpteenth time. Definitely some serial arsonists at work.

[Razor]

There was a scrub fire in springston this afternoon then someone set the old Antonio halls in riccarton on fire for the umpteenth time. Definitely some serial arsonists at work.

The Springston one was next door to our Lincoln Uni farms. It was not arson, farm equipment was the cause of that one. I have to add that the Lincoln fire crews were magnificent in stamping it out with huge speed

[Mirage]

The weather has been overall in favour most of yesterday, overnight, and so far today. Little to no wind majority of the time (in our area). The heat is another story though, feel very sorry for all those working amongst the fires! The fire close to us that we could see flames previously has become a decreasing smoking patch. At one moment, one of the planes was flying past, while 3 helicopters hovered close to the water body near us. The communication between them, and how they keep an eye out for each other, while moving so quick to get water to and fro, is amazing!

[Storm Struck]

The RNZAF has sent down the NH90 to use thier IR sensors for hot spots tomorrow, such a fantastic effort up there I noticed a few smaller flare ups this afternoon so the ground is well and truly still smouldering.