Friday, 8 February 2019 - 9:14am |
Tasman

Friday morning update from Police - Nelson fires

2 min read

Please attribute to Inspector Zane Hooper, Acting Tasman District Commander

Police are continuing to support the emergency response led by Civil Defence and FENZ to the fires here in Nelson. We are continuing to manage cordons and prepare to assist with potential evacuations, should there be the need for these. There are currently thirteen cordons in place.

Residents should regularly check the Civil Defence website and Facebook for updates and if there is the need to communicate urgently with residents a Civil Defence Alert will be sent.

Overnight we asked people in the wider Wakefield area to be prepared and take precautionary measures to reduce the risk to property after the fire intensified yesterday afternoon.

As a further precautionary measure it has been decided that today early childhood centres, kindergartens and schools will be closed in Wakefield.

Police staff are dedicated to supporting the emergency response and continue to be patrol proactively in the wider areas affected by the fire.

If you have no legitimate reason to be in an affected area you should not be there - our priority is to ensure the safety of the community.

We are working with FENZ on a plan to allow residents restricted access where possible and where it is safe to do so. We will provide residents with updates as soon as we are possibly able.

The investigation into the circumstances around the fire on Rabbit Island is continuing. Any update on this will be shared proactively.

Police are not aware of any further reports of drone activity after the report of a possible drone sighting yesterday morning.

Police were deployed to the area and could not locate either a drone or an operator. We would reinforce the message to the public that we do not want any drones being flown in and around the operational area of the fire.

Drones are a direct risk to the aircraft who are key in the firefighting response and protecting life and property.

We would like to thank the local community for their support during this difficult time when we are evacuating residents and sending out the warning of the possible need to evacuate

We know this is a stressful time for the community and we want to reiterate that anybody who has medical or welfare needs to contact the relevant support agencies.

ENDS