Nearly 200 claims and $6 million paid out, including one claim that totalled $761,000.
That was the toll from rural fires in New Zealand 2016-2020 for FMG. Bear in mind that FMG has around 52 percent of the rural market, and also, as the company’s head of client strategy and advice services Stephen Cantwell pointed out, that was only what could be claimed on.
“There’s a lot more out there as well in terms of damage to land and the risk to human health and lives.”
Stephen joined Federated Farmers arable chair and emergency service spokesperson Colin Hurst, and Fire & Emergency NZ (FENZ) national wildfire specialist Graeme Still on a recent Feds ‘Policy Presents’ webinar entitled Fire – the Fickle Mistress.
When farmers do a controlled burn-off, or weigh up risks when they use a chainsaw or other machinery that can cause a spark in the height of summer, they need to realise it isn’t just their own property at risk. Damage done to neighbouring properties and equipment can very quickly add up, Stephen pointed out.
These liability claims comprised 52% of the cost of rural claims between 2016 and 2020, with building claims making up 27% and contents 15%. FMG paid out $1.7 million on 120 liability fire claims in rural areas in the four year period, at an average of $14,000 a claim. One incident alone cost $250,000.
“When you look around you, it’s not hard to see some really significant things that could burn if a fire got out of control….maybe a big forestry block next door, a new lifestyle subdivision with million dollar houses that weren’t there in years past.”
News to no-one was that there was a definite ‘seasonality’ to rural fires, and we’re on the cusp of the machinery and hay barn fire risk period now. Some two thirds of agriculture-related fires occur January-March.
Tracking of BUI (that’s ‘build up index’ of flammable vegetation in rural areas) shows that the Wairarapa is already above normal. Graeme said that over the next 2-3 months he expects BUI to be “significantly higher” in Otago and Southland, and eastern parts of the country in particular can dry out very quickly.
FENZ and FMG statistics machinery use is high on the list for starting blazes in summer, whether that’s from exhaust sparks or metal implements striking rocks.
Bird nests in the exhaust of tractors and harvesters or under the cowling/bonnet are always a big risk.
“We see it with utes and quads as well,” Stephen told those attending the webinar. The ‘stop and pop’ [the hood] message remains as strong and relevant as ever.
“Even though a lot of people are aware that fires can easily start this way, it still happens. We’ve had cases where someone has just popped away for a cup of tea for 20 minutes and have come back to find a bird’s nest has ignited a fire that has destroyed a piece of equipment.”
Graham said FENZ recognises controlled burn-offs as an essential and useful land management tool. But there is plenty that needs to be done to reduce risks.
First port of call should be the checkitsalright.nz website to find out whether a restricted or prohibited fire season has been declared in your district. The website www.fireweather.niwa.co.nz has in-depth and localized weather information.
Pre-planning can head off a lot of trouble, as can having extinguishers and other dousing equipment close to where you’re working. FENZ fire officers are always happy to offer advice for anyone who feels they lack the experience or knowledge to tackle burning a wind row or stubble.
“Never light on windy days. Wind is the factor that pushes fires along.”
Fire danger is generally lower in the morning, Graeme said. In daylight saving time it’s often around noon-1pm that wind patterns change and pick up.
“Another thing when you’re doing a burn is to identify those areas that could be most at risk from an outbreak. In other words the pinch areas, the places and situations that are difficult to manage.
“They’re the areas you want to start from, rather than letter the flames build up in intensity before they hit those pinch areas.”
Research projects about honing rural fire response
Fire and Emergency NZ employs five wildfire specialists and they are working on a number of projects that will benefit the agricultural sector, and lessen the risk of damage from fires.
As outlined on the Federated Farmers ‘Policy Talks’ webinar, these are the main projects contemplated or already underway:
Blanket afforestation risk
FENZ has funded Scion to look at the impacts of the increase of carbon forestry and forestry in general, both positive and negative and including the biodiversity aspect.
The project is due to be completed in March next year. Partners within this industry have been asked for input into the scope of the study.
Better weather data
FENZ is working with NIWA and MetService around getting better data from the FENZ weather stations. Work has already been completed on whether the locations of the weather stations are optimal. Some will be moved, and the number of weather stations will increase from 240 to around 310. These will all be operational by February next year, and will give FENZ excellent coverage across the country – in fact, some of the best in the world.
“It is a necessity,” Graeme said. “New Zealand is quite diverse [in terrain and climate conditions]. You only need to go 10km down the road sometimes and the weather pattern is quite different.
“Our science data and intel is much better than a few years ago so we can predict spike days, which gives us the ability to be better prepared for a large incident and early notification to stakeholders in the elevated fire danger level,” FENZ National Wildfire Specialist Graeme Still told the webinar.
Dry grass and fire risk
Grass curing has a dramatic impact on fuel loads and fire risk. FENZ is looking at a 2-year project that the Australia’s National Council for Fire and Emergency Service is developing using satellite imaging for grass curing and other fuels. Australia trialled this last year with very positive reports, and FENZ believes it can be adapted for here.
“Grass is one of the major components of our fire danger rating. Fires generally start from ignition in grass, then it builds and goes into other fuels.
“Some of us have been around long enough to remember when we used to have to grid the grass, and weigh it, to get a sense of the curing. Satellite imaging will take away the grey area and will make this component less subjective and give us a good understanding of the coverage of grass curing,” Graeme said.
Better communication
FENZ is underway on a project to lift the level of communications to communities around fire risk.
“We don’t think we are doing this as well as we could be to ensure that our communities understand what we are talking about.”
Graeme said people know when it’s hot, but don’t necessarily understand particular fire risks in particular scenarios.
Fire breaks
Graeme acknowledged that the fire break policy was a contentious piece of legislation when fire plans were completed. A project is currently underway to create a clear science-based approach for creating a fire break. If used in the right way, one of the benefits will be that it will reduce the wildfire risk.
“We’ve had a lot of feedback and questions around what a fire break is, where would it be needed and how would it be applied. We’re nearly there on this project.”
Grinding and welding ‘triggers’
A project has just been completed on fire season triggers and activities and how they are applied. It has looked at activities such as grinding and welding, and how FENZ sets a trigger level for them. It was noted there is an economic impact of not being able to grind. These findings will just come out as guidelines but FENZ will have the ability to vary these locally to take into account different factors.
Tackling the big blazes
From time to time FENZ is challenged on whether it is scaling up in terms of capacity to respond to big incidents.
“Our new structure puts a lot more emphasis and effort in reducing the chance of fires happening in the first place. We don’t know what will happen with the vaccine mandate in terms of our response capability, however we are well equipped to deploy resources from around the country to support other regions if required.” Graeme told the webinar.
“Our aerial capability is strengthened through a web-based system so our local contractors are able to respond better. New Zealand has the highest number of rotary wing aircraft per capita in the world due to its use in industrial and commercial work, so we have a good resource through our contractors without having to permanently lease aircraft.”
Answering a question during the webinar, Graeme said as a general rule a fire truck should arrive at a farm property after call-out within 15 minutes (plus five minutes if it’s a volunteer firefight force to allow crew to get to the station). But there are more remote areas where the response time will be greater.
“If a caller thinks it’s likely to take 20-25 minutes or longer for an appliance to get there, of if the fire is already getting out of control, they should dial ‘111’ and advise an aircraft may be needed and that can be activated straight away.”