Forest fire sparks alert

BY DELWYN DICKEY

MOTOCROSS riders were forced to evacuate along a forestry road on Sunday afternoon when the entrance to the Dome Valley Motorcycle Park was cut off by fire in scrub and forestry cuttings near State Highway 1.

Smoke was seen on the scrub slope beside the entrance road to the park just before 1.30pm so emergency services were contacted, park manager Tim Hood says.

There had been more riders in the park, which runs through parts of the forestry.

Most had already left because it was getting into the hottest part of the day, he says.

"With flames leaping across the road it was just too dangerous to go out the entranceway, so we packed up the 18 to 20 remaining riders and their bikes. With a leader at the front and a follow-up person at the rear we made our way along Kraack Rd, which is a good standard type metal forestry road that comes out near the Top of The Dome Cafe.

"While it was scary to see a fire in a forest in the middle of summer we didn’t feel we were in any danger and had a safe route out," says Mr Hood.

The park gets reports weekly on the fire situation and if it gets extreme it is shut down, he says.

The highway was closed for six hours because thick smoke cut driver visibility and the road was needed for helicopters and fire-fighting equipment, Rodney District Council principal rural fire officer Scott Marchant says.

Traffic was diverted onto SH16 along Kaipara Flats Rd north of Warkworth and at Wellsford as two Skyworks helicopters, and firefighters from nine stations with 14 appliances and support vehicles fought to get the fire under control.

Initially, the fire on a slope of scrub with some felled pines was considered too dangerous for ground fire crew, so helicopters with monsoon buckets were used.

The fire quickly spread across the slope and came within metres of SH1 and a large area of native bush on the other side.

After getting the main fire under control, a flare-up thought to be caused by flying embers saw a stand of eucalyptus trees on the top of the slope also threatened. One firefighter described loud cracking and bangs as the fire entered the grove, probably tree gum igniting in the heat.

Mr Marchant says the fire is being treated as suspicious.

It has been a very dry summer with a high potential for fires, but he has been pleased with the response from rural people who have generally been very careful.

It is carelessness, such as people discarding cigarettes, that has caused him the most concern.

The blaze was in part of the Mahurangi Forest, a 6900-hectare pine plantation owned by Matariki Forests and managed by Rayonier New Zealand.

"The rural fire authority and Fire Service did a great job," says Rayonier NZ regional manager Andrew Warren, who was at the fire site on Sunday.

"Without such a quick and effective response it could have been much worse. They are mostly volunteers and they just came from all areas."

The highway was reopened around 7pm Sunday with firefighters monitoring the area with thermal imaging gear for "hot spots".

- © Fairfax NZ News