Dramatic pic of the Christchurch Port Hills disaster-in-progress. No, that’s not Sauron’s Tower, it’s the sugarloaf transmission tower uncomfortably close to the inferno.
last couple of days the sky has been thick with smoke and the flames are visible from most parts of greater Christchurch at night.
Hundreds of homes in Christchurch have been evacuated as wildfire burns on the Port Hills. Here is what you need to know.
Follow RNZ’s live coveragehere.
Evacuated areas
- Houses downhill of the Sign of the Takahe on Dyers Pass Road as far as and including Kiteroa Place and Pentre Terrace
- Cashmere Hills in the area between Sign of the Takahe and Victoria Park. This includes Victoria Park Road, Pentre Terrace and Dyers Pass, south of Takahe Drive
- Long Hurst Terrace, off Dyers Pass Road
- The Port Hills around Worsleys and Cashmere Roads
- Early Valley Road.
- Some areas of Westmorland and Cracroft.
- Houses on Kennedys Bush Road and its intersecting streets, from Halswell Quarry up towards the end of Kennedys Bush Road
- Evacuation centres have been set up at Te Hapua Halswell Centre, and Nga Hau e Wha Marae in Pages Road
- This Facebook group has been created for people to offer accommodation to people those who have been evacuated.
Road closures
- Cashmere Road is closed west of Kaiwara Street through to Kennedys Bush Road.
- Worsleys Rd is closed from Cashmere Rd.
- Hoon Hay Valley Road is closed.
- Worsleys Track closed from Worsleys Road.
- Kennedys Bush Road is closed from the roundabout with Rock Hill Drive. This includes the southbound cycle track.
- Dyers Pass Road between Hackthorne Road to Governors Bay Road. Use the Lyttelton Tunnel or Gebbies Pass as the alternate route
- Summit Road between Gebbies Pass and Rapaki Track.
- Old Tai Tapu Road between Osterholts Road and Early Valley Road.
- Early Valley Road is closed.
- Holmes Road is closed.
- Christchurch Adventure Park is closed.
Fire crews operating
- 15 helicopters, including five with monsoon buckets, and two fixed-wing aircraft will be used to fight the fire from the air today and more than 200 firefighters will be on the ground.
- 50 police and 61 Defence Force personnel are assisting with evacuations and joint patrols.
- Twenty-one urban appliances are on the Summit Road, eight on Worsleys Road and 10 on Early Valley Road.
Weather
- No rain is forecast for Christchurch today but humidity will stay high.
- North and north-easterly winds will pick up mid-morning, but MetService said fortunately there no dry north-westerly winds forecast – they’re the worst for the fire.
- A slight drizzle may hit Christchurch tomorrow
Schools, power, health and transport……
Read the rest here:https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/christchurch-fires-what-you-need-to-know/ar-AAmWUy5?ocid=SK2MDHP
…and please forgive the delay in reporting this, it’s uncomfortably close to home!
I’ll update this item as information comes together, but those familiar with the 2011 quake will get a distinct feeling of déjà vu.
And of course the US Coast Guard just happened to be hanging around at the right place and time to assist (they were on their way to Antarctica would you believe?)
More to come….