News Release
1 February 2013

Mayor Calls On Aucklanders To Follow Fire Ban

The Mayor is appealing to Aucklanders to follow the complete fire ban that has been imposed across Auckland.

It comes as firefighters continue to be called out to scrub fires, both accidental and deliberate, in various parts of Auckland.

Auckland Council last week announced a complete fire ban, including Great Barrier, Kawau, Waiheke, and the other Hauraki Gulf Islands.

The Mayor says the ban continues to be necessary due to heightened fire danger and dry weather conditions.

“Both Aucklanders and visitors need to do their part by taking extra precautions and ensuring the ban is followed.” says Len Brown. “Clearly not everybody is following that advice.”

The total ban means all fires in the open air are banned. This includes rubbish fires, bonfires, backyard braziers, fireworks and cooking fires.

The ban will remain in place until the fire danger is no longer classed as elevated.

Urban areas are also included in the fire ban, which has the support of the New Zealand Fire Service.

Meanwhile the Mayor has paid tribute to everyone involved in battling the big fire that destroyed more than 100 hectares of bush on Great Barrier Island.

The fire started nine days ago and fire crews are still on site monitoring the situation and preventing flare ups.

“I’ll be heading over to the Barrier soon to personally thank those who went to extraordinary length to battle the big blaze,” says the Mayor. “Without the heroic efforts of the firefighters under the leadership of Bryan Cartelle, the effects of this fire could have been much worse, including damage to homes, businesses and the airport

“A big thank you too, to firefighters for their great work on other scrub fires around Auckland in recent days.”.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

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