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2024 Port Hills fire
The 2024 Port Hills fire was a wildfire in Christchurch, New Zealand. The fire started at around 2:15 pm NZDT on 14 February 2024 on Worsleys Road. It is close to the location of one of the fires that started on 13 February 2017 which developed into the 2017 Port Hills fires.[2] At the height of firefighting efforts on 16 February, the fire had spread over 650 hectares[3] and was fought by over 100 firefighters, 15 helicopters, two fixed-wing planes, and 28 fire engines. 110 properties were evacuated in total.[4] Management of the fire ground continued for around 3 weeks, though it was largely put out within a few days.[3] After an investigation, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Police determined that the cause of the fire was unknown.[5][6] Events Fire and Emergency New Zealand said that dry weather had led to "tinder conditions".[7] Dozens of properties were evacuated, including a nearby hospital.[8] On 14 February a state of emergency was declared in Christchurch and Selwyn.[9] Starting at 2:45 pm, for 25 minutes, 39,000 properties were left without power. Transpower determined that the cayse was soot causing arcing and an outage at the Bromley substation.[10] As of 15 February, the fire was being fought by 28 fire appliances, 14 helicopters and two retardant-dropping aircraft, which consisted of 80 Fire and Emergency crews.[9] On the night of 14 February, 80 homes were evacuated, and firefighters created a fire break between Worsleys Spur and Dyers Pass Road.[citation needed] On the night of 17 February and the morning after, a civilian drone caused several helicopters to be grounded.[11] Investigation and originThe cause of the fire is officially undetermined.[5][6] The fire began on private property sometime between 1:45pm and 2:08pm.[12] While the property owner had been in the area before the fire, no ignition source could be identified. Due to the high relative humidity, it is possible the fire started earlier as a smouldering fire, and only ignited into flame later.[13] Police and FENZ asked for photographs of the fire between 1:45 pm and 2:45 pm to trace the origin, a half hour before and after the fire began.[14] The footage received from the public assisted in determining the time the fire started.[15] The ignition point of the fire has been identified as within metres of a public walking track in a pine plantation on Worsleys Spur.[16] ReferencesBibliography
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