Porirua scrub fire
Fire crews continue to fight a scrub fire in the Porirua seaside area of Titahi Bay this morning (Friday) which began late on Thursday night and northerly winds pushed a veil of smoke from the blaze over Wellington’s northern suburbs. Smoke was also reported in the Hutt Valley and the Wellington coastal suburb of Miramar.
What you need to know:
- Fenz was alerted to the blaze at 11.04pm on Thursday, and the first crews arrived by about 11.10pm.
- About 7.15am Friday, Fire and Emergency NZ said eight crews were still working to bring the vegetation fire under control. Helicopters with monsoon buckets would also be working on Friday morning.
- The fire was burning over about 10ha in Whitireia Park, and people were asked to stay away from the area. No homes were at risk, Fenz said.
- Residents in Wellington’s northern suburbs woke to the sight of a red glow in the sky and the smell of smoke in the air.
- Commuters travelling into Wellington city from the north were also driving through heavy smoke over the motorway in the central Porirua area.
- Fenz said smoke was affecting a large part of Porirua, and the National Public Health Service had advised that people in an area where there was smoke should go inside, close the windows and doors and turn off air conditioning units. Anyone who had been exposed to the smoke and was feeling unwell should contact Healthline (0800 611 116) or ring their doctor for advice.
Beware of inhaling smoke:
People should avoid exposure to smoke if possible.
Smoke may irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and airways. Symptoms could include watery or sore eyes, dry or sore throat, sore nose, cough, tightness of the chest or difficulty breathing. In healthy people, most symptoms disappeared soon after exposure to smoke ended and did not cause long-term health problems. Smokers, the elderly, children, and those with heart disease, asthma or other lung disease were at the greatest risk of harm from smoke inhalation.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.7% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
Would you like a free copy of our February 2025 issue?
Kia ora neighbours. We give away free copies to readers whose recipes are used in our magazine. We're still on the hunt for tomato recipes, so send your family's favourite way to use up your homegrown harvest, to: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. If we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of the mag
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