16 Dec 2019

Community recovery in Nelson & Tasman District wildfires

From Nine To Noon, 9:35 am on 16 December 2019
Firefighters at Tasman fire.

Firefighters at Tasman fire. Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae

A look back at this year's wildfires in Nelson and Tasman District - New Zealand's largest aerial firefight on record and  the  largest since 1955. Back in February two separate fires, just 20 km apart, forced 3 thousand residents of Wakefield out of their homes and a further 97 people from the Redwood Valley area. It took a month for the fires to be declared "controlled"  but the work to make the community more resilient continues to this day. Kathryn is joined by Wakefield Fire Station Chief Fire Officer,  Fritz Buckendahl and Wakefield Constable Jamie White.