Homeowner faces flames

BY VANESSA PHILLIPS

A Nelson man stood his ground to save his family's home from a scrub fire.

Armed with a garden hose, Matipo Tce resident Dean Olsen fought to help keep the flames at bay after a neighbouring hillside reserve caught fire yesterday, sending up spectacular plumes of smoke and flame.

For the Olsen family, it was a close call and a frightening experience. The heat melted corrugated plastic and singed the deck of the wooden house.

Others in the neighbourhood rallied to help Mr Olsen save the home he and wife Claudia are renovating. Meanwhile, downhill, dozens of people lined Emano St, watching anxiously as the fire advanced towards the Olsens' property.

"The community is great," a grateful Mr Olsen said from the deck yesterday as smoke and water spray drifted past.

Several people in the neighbourhood had grabbed whatever hoses they could find to help, he said. "These guys were dampening it down for at least 10 minutes before the fire brigade got here."

Sergeant Blair Hall said the cause of the fire, which broke out about 3pm and burned about 3000 square metres of the reserve, was unknown, but Nelson police were investigating and it was being treated as suspicious.

Mr Olsen said he and his wife didn't realise the hillside was on fire until a neighbour alerted them.

The first thing he did was make sure his wife and their children Emily, 3, and nine-month-old Leah were safe. They took the family dog and fled in the car to a friend's house. Mr Olsen stayed behind.

He admitted to being "a little bit scared", but said he stayed to protect the house they had owned for less than two years, because after all their renovation work "you wouldn't want to see it go up in flames".

Fanned by the breeze, the fire travelled uphill rapidly, Mr Olsen said. "Within two minutes it went 50 to 100 metres up the road reserve."

While firefighters tackled the blaze from Emano St for some time, Mr Olsen and some of his neighbours were critical of the time it took for another fire engine to arrive up the hill at Matipo Tce.

Several residents were also critical of the Nelson City Council's upkeep of the reserve.

"The amazing thing is that this could have been 100 times worse because the Nelson City Council don't do anything about the road reserve," said Mr Olsen, saying it had been overgrown and full of gorse.

He said the council mowed the reserve only about a week ago, following complaints.

"Thank .... they did or it would have been worse."

About 60 cars lined Princes Drive as people watched firefighters battling the flames in the valley below.

Princes Drive resident Kate Earl said it was a little worrying watching the fire spread through the scrub, but she was confident it was under control.

"I'll give [the firefighters] credit for what they're doing. It's brave of them being down there."

Emano St resident Sharon Tarapipipi said her family were returning home after an outing when they saw the smoke.

"When we saw it coming up from Countdown, it just looked like a big plume going up," she said as she watched firefighters tackling the blaze.

She had heard that a couple of young boys tried to stamp the fire out in its early stages, and one may have suffered burns.

Nelson Fire Service station officer Richard Lovering said people who lived next to reserves should ensure there was a clear "safe zone" around their house.

In the Olsens' case, trees and plants nearby and rubbing up against the deck helped the fire approach the property, he said.

"I imagine their diapers were full by the time we got there."

Mr Lovering said the delay in a fire engine going to Matipo Tce could have been because the directions given by the control room to firefighters were to go to Emano St. Firefighters would have realised later that there was alternative access to the fire, he said.

They returned to the scene at 9.30pm for another hour after the fire flared up again.

Today, station officer Brian O'Donnell said residents and partygoers in the area had made it more difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze by parking over fire hydrants and getting in the way of fire engines.

Firefighters were thinking about asking the council to put "no stopping" signs on one side of Emano St, he said.

"It is quite concerning because it would have been exactly the same if it was a house fire, which can have much more serious consequences."

- © Fairfax NZ News