2017 Port Hills fires
| Port Hills fires | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Location | Port Hills, Christchurch and Selwyn District, New Zealand |
| Statistics | |
| Date(s) | 13 February 2017 – 20 April 2017 |
| Burned area | 2,075 hectares (5,130 acres) |
| Cause | Not established yet |
| Buildings destroyed |
|
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Injuries | 3 |
The 2017 Port Hills fires were wildfires in the Port Hills of Christchurch, New Zealand. Two separate fires, several kilometres apart, started on Monday afternoon on 13 February 2017. By Wednesday night, the fires had combined to one large area. A helicopter crashed helping to fight the fires, causing the death of the pilot. Nine houses were destroyed and a further two were significantly damaged by the fires, and hundreds of residents were evacuated.
A fire started on Monday afternoon in Early Valley Road in Lansdowne near Halswell and Tai Tapu. Lansdowne is the eastern extreme of Selwyn District, and the Selwyn Rural Fire Authority assumed control in fighting the fire. Early on, a house on Early Valley Road burned down.
A second fire broke out several kilometres further east on Marleys Hill next to the Summit Road near Dyers Pass; this fire was reported 90 minutes after the previous one. Landmarks nearby include the Sign of the Kiwi, the new Christchurch Adventure Park, Victoria Park, and the communications tower on Sugarloaf. Although the second fire was located in the area controlled by Christchurch City Council, the response to both fires was controlled and co-ordinated by the Selwyn Rural Fire Authority. The Christchurch Adventure Park closed at 7:00 pm due to high winds and the nearby fire. A low number of residents located on Summit Road and that part of Worsleys Road that starts at the Summit Road were evacuated.
The fire service used more than a dozen helicopters with monsoon buckets to douse the flames with water, and some fixed wing planes to spray fire retardants. In the early afternoon, a helicopter fighting the fires crashed, killing the pilot and sole occupant Steve Askin. Askin was a former member of the New Zealand Special Air Service and in 2014 had been awarded the Gallantry Star, New Zealand's second highest military decoration, for exceptional bravery during service in the war in Afghanistan. The interim report from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) released in May 2017 suggested the Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil crashed after the empty monsoon bucket swung back and was entangled in the tail rotor.
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Wikipedia