The Hawke’s Bay fires have now been contained after
some hard firefighting, with weather conditions helping to
supress the fires. 13 rural fire crews, four New Zealand
Defence Force crews, six helicopters, 17 New Zealand Fire
Service appliances, two NZFS Command Units and 3 NZFS
tankers worked tirelessly to put the fires out. The four
fires that made up the combined fire area burnt 422 hectares
and destroyed one residential house.
A Rural
National Incident Management Team was established to manage
the incident and to provide national oversight and resources
where necessary. The Rural National Incident Management Team
and firefighters deployed to Hawke’s Bay from other areas
are expected to demobilise and hand over to the local team
by Friday afternoon.
Thankyou to all the personnel
who worked long and hard to fight these fires, and to local
residents for their co-operation at such an unsettling
time.
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