Woken and told to flee

BEN CURRAN

NERVOUS NIGHT: Eddie Riddle, daughter Adele and wife Margaret watch choppers pass over head to battle the forest fire.

Scared and shocked Canvastown residents were forced to grab valued possessions and flee their homes last night as the raging fire threatened their properties.

About 40 residents from 12 homes in Te Hora Pa Rd were woken abruptly by authorities about midnight. Many found refuge at the local Te Hora Marae. They were allowed to return home about 7am.

Marae kuia Elaine Wilson said everyone was concerned because the fire was moving at a "heck of a pace. It was a great big glow in the sky. It was scary".

Ms Wilson said people had little time to collect belongings, and many arrived at the marae without bedding.

Te Hora Pa Rd resident Joy Surfield said she was woken by a "hell of a pounding" on the door.

She was unable to see the fire from her home, but when she arrived at the marae there was a "bright red sky, the smoke was really thick and there was a lot of ash on the cars".

Adele Riddle, her son Tom Hackett, 15, and her visiting parents Eddie and Margaret Riddle, from Gore, scrambled for items, which included a laptop computer and handbags, and made their way to the marae.

"It wasn't until we got down there that I thought we should have grabbed some clothes," Miss Riddle said. She said she had lived at the property for 13 years and had seen about four major fires, but this was the first time she had been evacuated.

"I'm glad the rain is here. It arrived just as we got [home at about 7am]," Miss Riddle said.

Along the road at the Woodchester Lodge Bed and Breakfast, Denis Craig and wife Tina, here on holiday from California, said an "insistent" and "vocal" fireman woke them about midnight.

Mr Craig said authorities were very efficient in "getting us away from harm's way".

"We come from the land of fires, but we are not used to being the person evacuated. This was a real forest fire."

When they were evacuated, there was a strong smell of smoke and weka were "raising hell", he said.

Mr Craig praised the work of those at Te Hora Marae, who had taken them in at a moment's notice. "This is a great community in terms of the spirit I saw.'

- The Marlborough Express

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