Suspected arson destroys Motupipi Spit ecosystem and bird sanctuary
Fire damage on Monday has devestated Motupipi Spit. Photo: John Barraclough
The Takaka Golf Club’s common matey farewell of “burn her up“ came dangerously close to happening last Monday afternoon when a raging fire, fuelled by a strong westerly wind, swept the Motupipi Sandspit.
Rural firemen and DOC staff battled the blaze, which raged through a bird sanctuary and a community reforestation project and left the sandy spit looking like a battlefield. Arson is suspected, and Robin Thompson, the district’s principal rural fire officer and commander for Eastern Golden Bay, promised an in-depth investigation into its causes in the coming days.
Mr Thompson said that when the fire call came at 1.40pm, they had an excellent and quick response from the rural fire-fighting crews from Wainui and Upper Takaka, the Takaka Volunteer Fire Brigade, DOC and Rural Fire Network personnel. A helicopter with a monsoon bucket reloaded from fire-engines on the golf course repeatedly dumped water over the burning spit and the fire was contained by 5pm. The fire-fighting crew went in afterwards to mop up, and worked a good part of the night to extinguish smouldering tree stumps and make sure the wind did not re-ignite the blaze.
“The fire devastated a few hectares of the sandspit and left only the fringes of the vegetation intact. The start of the fire was potentially suspicious so the Rural Fire Network and the police will look into the cause of it and are already following a few leads,” said Mr Thompson. “There are still some embers out there that people might see but they can’t cause any damage.” A spell of rain would also help tidy things up, he added.
DOC biodiversity manager Hans Stoffregen said it was devastating to see the destruction, and that it would take 20 to 30 years for the vegetation and wildlife to re-establish.
“Of all the hundreds of trees we planted there is nothing left. I saw a lot of eggs lying around and many young birds would have died in the fire.”
Trees exploded from the combustion, leaving smouldering tree skeletons, while birds and hares fled the scene, leaving nests and young behind. Gerry Draper, who lives nearby, described the spit as a “moonscape”.
“The sand is already starting to pour and the erosion here on the spit is probably going to be tremendous. This ecosystem will take years to recover. It’s a bloody shame.”
Ina Holst
