Navigators 3 have been writing about the Port Hills fire. There was some excellent writing and Ms Risk and I were very impressed with the quality of the vocabulary used.
The Port Hills Fire
Hello everybody, I am your reporter tonight, Anita Martin. Now I’m on the Port Hills near the scene of the dangerous fire. I am joined by Firefighters Sam and Hannah who are eager to put an end to this crisis.
“How much do you think this fire has spread?”
“Alot because the is blowing and moving the fire.”
“What has made it so difficult?”
“It is difficult because we haven’t got any water supply around so we have had to use water from nearby houses pools.”
Thank you Sam and Hannah for talking with us. As you can now see the fire has engulfed a home and there are also two more unconfirmed reports.
So far one helicopter has crashed, killing the pilot. The other helicopter pilots have been given a choice to continue flying the helicopters or not. Most pilots have chosen not to fight the rapidly increasing flames.
The wind has grown stronger causing the fire to take in most of the brand new multi-million dollar Adventure Park. Flames are spreading quickly causing 450 residents to evacuate.
Some call these fires mysterious as we still don’t know who lit them. The fibers have now joined making one big fire that is harder to put out. Smoke has filled the sky and people with breathing problems are advised to stay indoors.
Reporter Anita Martin
Port Hills Fire Report
On Monday 14th February a scrub fire started blazing next to Early Valley Road. Two hours later a second fire was burning by Sumit Road. Residents were forced to evacuate their houses.
To make matters worse the wind picked up overnight and caused the flames to move quickly along the hillside burning several houses to the ground.
On Tuesday, helicopters flew above the fire smothering the flames with water from their monsoon buckets. But then a at two-thirty a tragic accident happened, a helicopter crashed into the side of the hills and sadly, the pilot was killed.
By Wednesday the fire was licking at the Adventure Park. Planes had begun spraying fire retardant on any flames that got too close to the park.
Reporter Jack Vetcher
The Port Hills Fire
Late afternoon on Monday 13th February 2017, a fire broke out licking across the Port Hills forcing residents to evacuate their houses. The blazing, glowing fire started late afternoon, by an unknown source and it spread out across the fields throughout the night.
Some people named the fire as “mysterious” as some of the residents have experienced fires before. Local families said this, “People have come and deliberately tried to burn houses, sheds and other types of buildings and we hope this fire is not another one like those.
At 7.00pm Monday night a second fire broke out near the Sign of the Kiwi on the Summit Road. At 2.30pm on 14th February a helicopter crashed just above Sugarloaf parking area. Police are investigating how it happened but do not know just yet.
After the fatal crash police called in all the helicopters airplanes down and they got an option of whether they went back up again to fight the blaze or stayed down. Most of the firefighters chose not to tackle the blaze because of the tragic incident that had happened.
The new Port Hills 20 million dollar mountain biking adventure park is now in big danger because the the fire is getting too close to the chairlift. They have put retardant on the chair lift but the park remains closed.
Sadly the fire has jumped across the Summit Road and is heading for Governor”s Bay. You can also see the blazing glow in Lyttelton. The Summit Road fire is under control but the Port Hills one is not. The firefighters are doing everything to stop the fire and are hoping they can put ot out in the next couple of days.
Over 450 households have been evacuated and about 1800 people.
Worsley Road, Dyers pass Road, Summit Road and Early Valley Road have all been closed.
As devastating as it is, the new adventure park has been burnt but they have managed to save the cafe, the base buildings and the chairlift.
Police have said, “If you don’t feel safe at home or you are really close to the fire and haven’t been evacuated, then it is a good idea to self evacuate as it is better to leave early than too late.
On 15th February late at night the first fire and second fire joined together to make one big extraordinary fire making it an even bigger fire to put out. Eight houses have been burnt to ashes and another very close to the burning point. Firefighters have now stretched out the time to ut the fire out to five days.
Reporter Maya Gray
