Download PDF: Issue 32 - New Zealand Fire Service

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Kaeo KO’D For the second time in four months Northland suffered extreme rainfall and flooding. Over 250mm of rain fell in just one 24-hour period (July 10/11) isolating Kaeo from the rest of the region and sending the far north into a state of emergency. Auckland was battered by winds of up to 180km/h and floodwaters were up to a metre high in places. Whilst parts of the Coromandel fell victim to the foul weather also. Northland was the worst hit, with large parts plunged into darkness due to line-falls. Linesmen worked on in hellish conditions to restore power but it was a number of days before those in the more remote parts had their electricity switched back on. At the peak of the storm, there were 141,000 people without power. A state of emergency was declared on Tuesday July 10 but lifted again on July 13, as council services switched from emergency management to clean up mode. EIRSA member Karl Baker said it was far worse than the March floods, the EIRSA team worked around the clock from the CD bunker in Wellington (see our profile of Karl’s work in this issue). “204 maps were generated over the flooding period, this was four times as many as usual”. Prime Minister Clark, Civil Defence Minister Rick Barker and list MP Dover Samuels all took in the damage done, the Prime Minister even went so far as to suggest that some of the places that are starting to suffer on a semiregular basis may have to consider up and leaving. A huge fallen tree completely blocks State Highway One just north of Waipu (south of Whangarei) during stormy weather in Northland during July. 6 Issue No. 32 Cover Story Farmer Jan Beatty looks to rescue two stranded cows on her swamped farm in Tangiteroria in Northland during July. Kaeo volunteer chief Lindsay Mitchell had to endure water creeping into the station for the first time in the station’s 26-year history. “We were fairly hamstrung anyway, there’s only two ways in and out of Kaeo, one goes north, the other goes south, both were blocked, I hadn’t seen it like that before. “The response has been great, and not just from our community either, all round the country. A group from Methven and from Mt Summers sent up some home baking, a huge thing of biscuits. I know I wouldn’t trust my cooking to send down to Methven!”. As of July 23, Lindsay said that it was back to business as usual though “the Fire Station hasn’t got any carpet at the moment, we had to chuck it out.”
South Island stays par for the course! In the South Island, it has remained relatively calm. There have been some very chilly temperatures, with recorded lows of –7 o but, as Chief of Alexandra Volunteer Station Russell Anderson noted “Most people don’t really want to be outside to be honest”. The far south has been coated in frosts with some areas hit harder than most. As our photos show, Mother Nature can be cruel but beautiful. The Alexandra vehicle testing station gained an indoor swimming pool when a fire reel burst flooding the office and then the pit. Cover Story Fire & Rescue roving photographer, volunteer support officer Mark Hutton took some stunning shots of the frosts and sent them in. Whilst cold and somewhat frozen over, Mark mentioned that it was “mostly business as usual”. Heavy snows cause chaos on Queenstown roads, Queenstown, New Zealand, Thursday, June 21, 2007. The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine August 2007 7
Page 1 and 2: Wild winter L August 2007 The New Z
Page 3 and 4: Marae fire safety initiative A Mara
Page 5: School’s out for winter Mother Na
Page 9 and 10: It’s been in the making for a whi
Page 11 and 12: Photo courtesy of Northern News In
Page 13 and 14: Incidents TRUCk’N’ROLL This was
Page 15 and 16: Truck stop Incidents The driver of
Page 17 and 18: Seconds out Firefighters and police
Page 19 and 20: A large turnout was expected and th
Page 21 and 22: These guys are firewise In a small
Page 23 and 24: IFE Conference 2007 Keeping pace: T

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