Fire and Emergency New Zealand community risk manager Dean Harker held a training session with volunteers in Rolleston recently covering a range of topics to help reduce fires.
Those volunteers are tasked with upskilling their colleagues and the public.
“What we’re doing is educating them on readiness and recovery resources that the community risk management team have. The purpose behind it is so that we can upskill them, so they can educate the public moving into summer,” Harker said.
Fire chiefs in the district are concerned about the predicted dry conditions that will prevail with the El Niño weather pattern and the influence it will have on fires over summer.
Harker is expecting a busy fire season with a very hot, dry summer approaching.
“We want to get as much education out there to the members of the public and the communities. So by upskilling the volunteers, it’s another way that we can get that messaging out.”
He said a common cause of scrub fires they have seen recently is burn piles either getting out of control or reigniting due to embers not being dampened down.
“The fire’s finished and then it hasn’t been extinguished properly. So what happens is the strong nor’easters come and they blow the top off the remaining ashes, and then that ignites the embers and they get blown into other vegetation,” said Harker. Sometimes it can take up to three weeks for the ground to be fully dampened down.
He said it’s also helpful for people to ring fire communications to inform them they are having a fire to ensure they are aware of it.
The volunteers were also shown examples of low-flammable planting, which is part of an education programme run in conjunction with Lincoln University.
Something like gorse will burn much quicker than broadleaf.
“The low flammable planting is plants that will burn, but at a very, very slow rate. So what we’re encouraging people to do around their home is to use that sort of planting to stop a fire if it does come, to actually slow it down to give them time.”
Harker said access to a property can also be challenging. Property owners need to be aware of how much space is required to get a fire truck down a driveway, which ideally is 4m by 4m.
Other prevention measures included in the training were fire safety home visits, where volunteers can check whether smoke alarms are working and their placement inside the house, as well as escape plans if there is a fire.
• If you are planning to have a fire in Rolleston, contact the volunteer fire brigade on 03 347 8398
