Tasman calls on govt help to pay fire costs

The Tasman District Council wants central government to help it meet the cost of dealing with the fires that tore through its region earlier this year. While the expense of battling the blaze was covered by Fire and Emergency, the cost of managing the civil defence response fell on the council. Council staff put in about 800 days of work during the response, a cost that will have to be picked up by ratepayers. Richard Kirby is the Civil Defence recovery manager and a Tasman District Council employee.