A small firework is set off on a street.
Photo: 123rf
Fire crews were called to 50 fireworks-related jobs on Guy Fawkes night last night, many of them scrub and grass fires.
One blaze at Dunedin’s Tomahawk Beach stretched 100 metres long and three metres wide.
Fire and Emergency’s community education and behaviour manager Tom Ronaldson said calls varied from small backyard blazes that threatened homes to vegetation fires in sand dunes.
No one was injured, and there was no significant property damage.
The Dunedin beach fire was the biggest, he said.
“That took nine crews at its peak over two hours to extinguish,” he said.
“Then down in Wānaka, we also saw a cluster of fires that tied up our resources for another few hours there.”
Although it was a busy night, it was “certainly less eventful” than previous years despite warm and windy conditions, Ronaldson said.
But he asked people to remain cautious.
“They may be waiting until the weekend to start their fireworks celebrations … don’t set them off if they’re [conditions] windy and make sure that you are following our safety advice,” he said.
Ronaldson also warned people against saving up fireworks for Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“Those conditions change significantly, so it gets warmer, drier and hotter and we do see higher winds, so we ask that if you have bought fireworks during this period, that you are making sure that you’re using them when it’s obviously safe to do so, but not stockpiling them for the summer.”
FENZ has been warning there’s a high risk of vegetation fires because of dry and windy conditions.
“You can go outside and you can feel if it is windy, and if it is – do not set off fireworks, it is that simple,”
FENZ national manager Adrian Nacey earlier told RNZ fireworks caused issues when they ended up in areas that made it difficult for them to be put out.
He said lighting fireworks was banned from most public areas.
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