A spate of big fires in late March was the worst Ōtaki fire chief Ian King had seen in his nearly 50 years with the local brigade.
“We’ve had bigger blazes, but three major fires and a couple of smaller ones in the space of a couple of weeks is highly unusual,” Ian says. “They certainly kept our local firefighters on their toes.”
About 20 years ago the brigade had about six Ōtaki fires within a matter of hours. While those were found to be the work of an arsonist, Ian says there is nothing to suggest the recent fires are related.
It started with a fire at Waikawa Beach on March 15, just as some of Ōtaki’s brigade were returning from a national firefighter bowls tournament.
“I looked out the window of the van coming home and saw a plume of smoke,” Ian says. “Sure enough, we got called out to assist.”
The fire, believed to be a spark from a chainsaw, razed about 16ha of scrub.
Then just after 1pm the next Friday, March 22, a shed at the old chicken farm on Swamp Road, Te Horo, caught fire. Smoke was seen throughout the district.
The Ōtaki brigade was first on the scene, joined by the Te Horo Rural Fire team, and later trucks and tankers from Waikanae, Levin, Paraparaumu, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington.
“It was a big, challenging fire because we didn’t have access to a nearby water supply,” Ian says. “We had to rely on tankers. It was also difficult because the shed was full of vehicles, machinery, tyres and oil, and as we discovered, fireworks.
“There was no way we could save the building or the contents. Even vehicles parked next the shed were burnt out.”
The next day, on Saturday, March 23, scrub near the old Ōtaki health camp caught fire about 6pm. Ōtaki firefighters found two teenagers trapped in dense blackberry, with flames rising around them. Police on the scene apprehended one 17-year-old; another of the same age was taken to hospital with moderate injuries. Police say two youngsters have been referred to Youth Services.
The health camp fire also required Ōtaki’s full brigade resources.
“All available firefighters were called out,” Ian says. “It was another big fire that took a while to get under control.”
About 4ha of scrub was burned, but efforts to keep the fire from nearby homes, the pine forest and the health camp buildings were successful. Staff and tankers were again required from neighbouring stations.
Early the following day, Ōtaki’s two fire trucks were called to assist at a rest home fire in Levin.
Then on Friday, March 29, a factory in Titoki Street, Ōtaki, caught fire about 6.20am. The building was used by Matta Products to make rubber and PVC safety matting.
“As you can imagine, that was a pretty intense fire with all the flammable materials inside,” Ian says.
Assistance from other brigades was again required, with personnel and tankers coming from as far away as Wellington and Palmerston North.
Ian has high praise for his team.
“They’re an awesome crew with some genuinely talented people,” he says. “They have to rush away from their jobs and their family to battle fires – often for hours at a time, in the middle of the night or at weekends. And they’re volunteers.
“It’s a huge commitment. Ōtaki is lucky to have them.”
The Ōtaki Volunteer Fire Brigade has a team of 22 active firefighters, with two new recruits. It is one of the few volunteer brigades in New Zealand to have a waiting list.
LATEST POSTS
- Tamariki up early for Anzac Day
- $200k so far for Te Horo Hall
- Lindsay rides for cancer funding
- Kāpiti Aero Club flies into Te Horo spat
- Downtown PostShop, Kiwibank, Lotto in limbo
- Culinary icon Ruth Pretty moves on
- Councillor moots Blue Bluff swing bridge solution
- Local school lunches feed 1000 - Ōtaki Today
- Driver nabbed on expressway with kids at 175km-h
- Blazes worst I’ve seen – fire chief
- Cobblers Soup team looking for helpers
- Community gets behind Te Horo Hall fund
- Library recycling old domestic batteries recycling old domestic batteries
- Reservoir work progresses apace
- Murals brighten Te Horo Beach toilets
- Local SAR teams help in bush search
- New passion, new business for busy Bee
- Kite crazy
- Green waste beach dumping concerns
- Six-month bridge lane closure looms
- End of an era as Raukawa Dairy closes
- Community at heart of Mary-Jane’s ONZM
- Cops nail burnout hoons
- Racing club development goes for consent
- Pizza workers claim exploitation
- Memories revived as teen friends reunite
- All Saints gets a spruce-up
- Kāinga Ora reveals new homes
- Challenges, but optimism for Ōtaki shops
- New MP Tim ‘getting on with it’
- New first response unit for Ōtaki
- Bridge work brings stop-start traffic
- Te Horo keeps pushing for buses to the beach
- Trucker gate - Bulls hit road as door opens
- New heritage entity launched
- Brent honoured for 60 years in Scouts
- Report disputes Moy access safety issues
- New barrier saves driver
- Bryan helps Canadians with huge blazes
- Support for Te Horo bus stops
- Training begins at old health camp
- Don’s book adds to colourful garden history
- ‘Quiet’ streets threatened by development
- Reservoir residents’ hopes dashed
- Waitohu group helps hold back the sea
- Houses will have to move from coasts, says panel
- No-bus Te Horo riles locals
- Paula’s gift – knitting for babies and the elderly
- Months of traffic delays as bridge gets ‘clip-on
- Flax flattened at estuary
- Council proposes relocating reservoir
- King gives gongs for community work
- Pete’s QSM another in long list of awards
- Jack Rikihana’s home still Ōtaki
- Rod Graham honoured for community work
- Huhana has MNZM for services to environment
- ‘Mixed emotions’ after IPCA findings
- Lucy joins local police
- Big crowds for Anzac Day in Ōtaki
- Short-staffed local cops dealing with family harm