Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
People in parts of the South Island are being urged to postpone any planned controlled burns on Thursday and Friday.
Large parts of the island remain very dry for this time of year and the forecast is for unseasonably warm weather and high winds on Thursday and Friday.
Mid-South Canterbury District Manager Rob Hands says this is a recipe for burns to get out of control.
He has already seen one burn get out of control near Pukaki in Mid-South Canterbury on Monday afternoon.
“Thursday and Friday are not the days to burn, particularly on the Canterbury plains and in parts of Marlborough,” he says.
“Some parts of the plains will experience gale-force winds and high teens in temperatures across this time.
“While most of the Mid-South Canterbury District, as well as Canterbury and Nelson-Marlborough, are in an open fire season, we urge anyone planning to burn on these days to put this off for another day.
“It does not take much for a burn to get out of control and put people in danger. We saw that at Pukaki, where we had to evacuate people from their homes for a night.
“There will be many better days to burn over the coming weeks.”
People that have already burned in the past few weeks must also remain vigilant, Rob Hands says.
“Please take extra care to monitor your burn piles during this time and take action as needed. We have seen in the past burns from previous weeks reigniting during these kinds of weather conditions.”
In Marlborough, the areas of most concern are Awatere, Ward and inland Molesworth due to the weather conditions and dryness in the area.
People in these areas are also asked to postpone burns from Thursday to Saturday.
