A fire exercise in Queenstown's vast and vulnerable "Red Zone" will use top personnel in incident management, deployed when the earthquakes hit Christchurch.
From the Department of Conservation (Doc) Wakatipu area office, in Arthur's Point, the national incident management team will lead the multi-agency response to a mock bush fire from October 25 to 27.
Staff from the Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago, Dunedin City and Clutha district councils will participate, alongside Doc rangers, Queenstown police officers, firefighters, a helicopter pilot from Te Anau, forestry company Wenita's representatives and residents.
The "serious fire" will be in Alpine Retreat, a residential suburb accessed from Moke Lake Rd, off the Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd.
Alpine Retreat residents and neighbours live within the zone, which was evacuated twice in the past year when trees fell on electricity lines and sparked vegetation fires.
About 40 personnel will organise the evacuation of houses and buildings, the welfare of residents, decisions on fire responses and fire suppression based on a "serious fire".
Communications and evacuation actions will be tested and community fire wardens will use "phone tree" plans.
Police will assist with the evacuation and check everyone is accounted for.
Doc Wakatipu rural fire officer Jamie Cowan said the aim of exercise was to review the Red Zone plan, ensure it was efficient and effective and check that agencies involved worked well together.
One of the messages the exercise wanted to highlight was that people had to help themselves during a fire, leave their homes and meet at the muster point, Mr Cowan said.
"Queenstown faces a huge, unique fire risk as billions of dollars worth of houses are closely surrounded by pine trees. Alpine Retreat is in the town's vulnerable Red Zone."
