Press Release – Marlborough District Council Wishes of a weekend bike ride or walk in the Wither Hills Farm Park have been granted by the weather gods. As of 6.00 am today – Thursday 1 April – all tracks are now open. This week brought some wonderful rain across Marlborough, and it has been …
Wishes of a weekend bike ride or walk in the Wither Hills Farm Park have been granted by the weather gods.
As of 6.00 am today – Thursday 1 April – all tracks are now open.
“This week brought some wonderful rain across Marlborough, and it has been enough to sufficiently reduce the fire danger for us to open all tracks in the Farm Park to the public,” said Council Parks and Open Spaces officer, Robin Dunn. “The fire risk has now dropped below the park closure trigger point.”
The Blenheim Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Renwick Volunteer Fire Brigade attended “to look after the house”. A helicopter also provided a dozen or so” monsoon buckets of water, filled from the back of a Hilux ute, Hayles said. “And a tractor was there, filling its bucket from a creek and splashing it around. It all helped . We had a good outcome today.”
Scott Hammond/Stuff
FENZ Marlborough Kaikōura principal rural fire officer Chris Hayles warns against using machinery in the afternoon. The fire was sparked by a worker grinding the top of a well pipe, sending sparks into some dry grass.
Scott Hammond/Stuff
Gas powered “bird bangers” are being dragged out the shed to scare birds away from grapes before harvest.
Vineyards using gas-powered “bangers” to scare birds off ripening grapes are asked to check them as malfunctions can produce “a fireball” in dry grass. With parts of Marlborough reaching “dry” and “very dry” on Niwa’s drought index this month, coinciding with the start of the grape harvest, a spark from a bird banger could set a grass fire off to a roaring start.
Scott Hammond/Stuff
Starlings hunt for grapes to eat above vineyards near Renwick in Marlborough.