Watch kept on fire risk

Naseby Forest has been closed twice in recent weeks as dry weather and high winds have pushed the fire risk to an extreme level.

Ernslaw One Ltd owns the 3000ha forest.

Although the forestry is privately owned, the company allows people access to about 500ha for recreation.

The area was popular with mountain bikers and walkers but safety was the top priority and it was not unusual for it to be closed this early in summer, forest supervisor Norbert Klein said.

Data on temperatures, relative humidity, rainfall and wind was recorded at regular intervals by a weather station on site every day and once certain "trigger points" were reached, the forest was closed for as long as the fire risk remained extreme.

"Nor'west winds certainly have an impact and the readings went through the roof a fortnight ago after strong nor'west winds, and we shut the forest for a couple of days then," he said.

The gates at every access point are then locked.

"We get lots of calls from people saying they're planning to come through to do some mountain biking, for example, and asking if the forest will be open in a fortnight's time but we can't say.

"It depends on the weather - if we've had rain, if we've had nor'westers," Mr Klein said.

During the "fire season" between October and March, a forestry staff member is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to monitor the situation.

Closing the forest affected staff as well as recreational users, as logging crews also had to cease their work.

At the height of summer, crews would start at 4am or 5am to complete a shift early in the day, before the fire risk escalated, he said.

A decision was made at 1.30pm each day whether the forest would remain open or closed, depending on the level of the fire weather index, which reflected the fire risk.

"The safety of the town and the people is our main priority, people first and then property."

When the forest was closed, the area had to be evacuated.

"If a fire breaks out under extreme conditions, it'll travel very fast and if you're in the middle of the forest, you can't outrun it," Mr Klein said.

The Maniototo Community Board considered a report in October which said the town contained a dangerous cocktail of fire hazards which heightened the potential for fire storms similar to those experienced in Victoria.

Rainfall statistics for Central Otago during November showed much of the district had between 92% and 98% less rainfall than usual.

Raineffects hydrologist David Stewart said Ranfurly's rainfall was 97% below average for the month.

- lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz