Blaze forces evacuation of Bay airport

18th March 2010

A fire which ripped through 15 hectares of conservation land came within metres of homes, forced the evacuation of Kerikeri airport and made a flight turn back just before landing.

The blaze started at the corner of Wiroa Rd and Waimate North Rd, 5km southwest of Kerikeri, about 3.30pm yesterday and quickly engulfed  scrub and native bush bordering the Bay of Islands' busiest airport.

 The  dense brown smoke cast a pall over the Kerikeri-Waipapa area.

An Air New Zealand plane  due to land at 5pm circled the airport, then returned to Auckland.

Shortly afterwards the airport was evacuated, and the owners of aircraft  in hangars along the grass runway started moving their planes to safety. Flames  came within metres of the hangars, as well as homes on the other side of Waimate North Rd.

About 60 firefighters and eight appliances from volunteer brigades across the entire Mid North, as well as fire crews from the Far North District Council and the Department of Conservation, battled to stop the fire jumping the road or damaging airport buildings. There were also concerns for aviation fuel tanks.

 About  4.30pm the heat was so intense fire commanders ordered their crews to withdraw while three helicopters doused the flames using monsoon buckets filled from airport hydrants.

 Drifting embers started spot fires on the runway and in properties along Waimate North Rd.

 Adrian Walker, of DoC, said the Wiroa Conservation Area enclosed rare gumland and peat swamp habitats, which were home to native mudfish and green geckos. However, the priority was to safeguard life and property and marshall people away from the head of the fire, which was being fanned by a stiff breeze.

Far North principal fire officer Lance Johnston suspected the fire had been started by sparks from switching gear on a high-voltage power line at the corner of Wiroa and Waimate North Rd.

The Kerikeri-Waipapa area was hit by a series of power cuts throughout the afternoon as the fire burned under the lines and Top Energy was forced to reroute power to keep the firefighters safe.

A rotary slasher  cleared dry vegetation around the airport's radio towers and a Metservice weather station. Cars in  long-term parking  were towed to safety.

The blaze was well under control by 7pm but firefighters are expected to remain at the scene for several days.

Fire Service volunteer support officer Colin Kitchen praised the volunteers, their families and employers in what had been a long, hard fire season.