Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
High winds at the Bridge Hill fire have not caused any breakouts on Sunday.
Incident Commander Colin Russell says there were a few small flareups, but crews were able to deal with them.
“It’s been a good team effort from everyone involved today and we’ve quickly got on top of any flareups we have seen,” he says.
The wind has created dust storms across the fire ground due to the lack of vegetation.
Colin Russell says this has reduced visibility for motorists on SH73.
“We’d urge everyone to take extra care when driving on the road, as they have been doing since the road was reopened with traffic restrictions.”
The wind is predicted to strengthen overnight. Fire and Emergency will have a drone team and ground crews on site to monitor the perimeter of the fire for hotspots.
“If we make it through tonight with no significant breakouts then we are hoping to reduce the number of resources on the fire ground tomorrow,” Colin Russell says.
“It’s been a big effort from all our brigades in the area and we thank them again for their effort.”
