Volunteers at Early Valley Road

It’s a sunny February Monday in Tai Tapu.

At the entrance to Early Valley Road, three Civil Defence volunteers are on a cordon shift in response to the recent Port Hills fires.

There were 21 rotating shifts on this cordon which started on Thursday 15 February and finished with the last shift at 8pm on Monday 26 February, supporting the evacuated residents of Early Valley Road.

Selwyn Emergency Support Team (SEST) volunteer Kaz Tester was on one of the last shifts on Monday with two members of the Selwyn Response Team. She says she enjoyed being a part of a supportive team and doing her bit to give back to the community.

Mayor Sam Broughton says he appreciates all our hard-working emergency services, response teams and volunteers involved in supporting our Selwyn community through recent fires around Kirwee and on the Port Hills.

“Thank you to the residents of Early Valley Road for putting into place all we learned from 2017 and your action during this fire event.”

The Council continues to support FENZ by helping spread their word on fire safety.

For information on evacuation plans and what to put in your grab bag, The Selwyn Emergency Management team have produced a guide to emergency preparedness in Selwyn called 'Are you Ready?

Copies of the guide are available from Selwyn Libraries and Service Centres and the Rolleston Council Office or viewable as a pdf on our website: Selwyn District Council - Prepare for an emergency.

The Council also offer a free Civil Defence alerting system to residents, which sends text and email alerts to subscribed households in the event of an emergency. You can sign up here: Selwyn Gets Ready | Selwyn Gets Ready

Just over a year ago, in collaboration with Spark New Zealand, the Council started trailing new sensor technology designed to detect fires in real-time at McHughs Forest Park.

These sensors will play a key role in protecting this reserve from another potential wildfire in Selwyn.

Last modified: 07 Mar 2024 1:34pm