Download PDF: Issue 27 - New Zealand Fire Service

There was no gung-ho approach to
safety, and Nick says they spent about
two hours assessing the fire and
surrounding area and the best means
of escape, before going in.
“We had our LACES [bushfire safety
steps] in place, and the beauty of it
was we were going uphill [the safe
side of the fire].
Part way through their containment
exercise, they were told there had
been a ‘slop-over’, where fire had
jumped the containment lines.
The team retreated back to the
slop-over point and set about
extinguishing it.
“There was no change to the wind
direction and everything was going
fine. I called up to Kevin [Ihaka] that
it was pretty hot and we were going
to have a spell.”
While enjoying a short break,
watching the spill over die out, the
lookout called from the road that a
fire was sighted and was moving
towards them.
“I could then see the flames, which
looked more like a fireball than
flames.”
With the fire advancing on them, the
group had two choices: go into the
already burnt area on the slop-over
(“the black”) or try to get clear of
the bush altogether. Staying in the
unburned bush around them was
not an option.
“Your training says go into the black,
but the way it stood, if we went into
the black it wouldn’t have been safe.
“I’ve seen it before when in Australia
in 2003; the fire burnt through the
same area three times. It burns a
different layer each time.”
“You can only make one decision – if
you make two there’s confusion – so I
made the call to get to
the vehicles and run the
gauntlet of the fireball.”
Some of the team,
realising they would not
have time to outrun the
fireball, did what they
were trained to do,
sheltered in a ditch while
the flames and hot gas
burned over the top of
them.
Even now, Nick has no
idea how long he was in
the ditch.
“We eventually got to
the vehicles and I thought
‘this bloody thing still
might get us’.”
In shock, Nick “didn’t
do much” but sit in one of the
vehicles, dousing himself in water.
But something beside his burns was
causing him distress.
“My big concern was that we didn’t
get everyone out. That was cutting
me up.”
Everyone was out, and all the other
fears – that the fire would catch the
escaping firefighters, or that
helicopters wouldn’t be able to land
for fear of bringing down a searing
hot inversion layer of air over the
wounded men – proved unfounded.
Cover story
Northland firefighters
perform a haka.
Nick is effusive in his praise for those
who helped the crew, from the
paramedics (one of whom cut off his
shoulder patch and gave it to a
stricken firefighter as a thank you),
the Department of Sustainability and
the Environment, Fire Service and
Rural Fire staff who did all they could
to reunite him with his family, to the
hundreds of grateful Aussies, who
sent letters and cards.
“It was just about embarrassing,
really. Just a simple card from Joe
Farmer with a couple of hectares in
the bush to say thanks, it really
choked me up.”
Nick McCabe is interviewed by TV3 days before he was burned.
A month or so later, Nick’s right hand
was still bandaged, his left peeling
and pink, but the remnants of his
injuries don’t mean much, because
he’s still here to tell his story.
Asked if the fire has changed his
perspective on life, he only says,
“It’s given me a bit to think about”.
None of it has dampened his
enthusiasm for firefighting, though.
On the day his photo was taken,
Nick said he would be back over
the Tasman if he could.
The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine
January / February 2007
Pictures: Lance Lawson, Alan Thompson
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