Latest news with #FireAndEmergency
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Body found next to burnt out car in Muriwai, Auckland
A body has been found next to a burnt out car in Muriwai. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King; A body has been found next to a burnt out car in Muriwai on Tuesday morning. Emergency services are at the scene of the fire at Jack Butt Lane and the area has been cordoned off. Police said Fire and Emergency advised them of the fire at about 8.30am. The fire had been extinguished and a person's body was found next to the vehicle, police said. Police are carrying out a scene examination.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Police say body found next to burnt out car in Muriwai, Auckland
A body has been found next to a burnt out car in Muriwai. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King; A body has been found next to a burnt out car in Muriwai on Tuesday morning. Emergency services are at the scene of the fire at Jack Butt Lane and the area has been cordoned off. Police said Fire and Emergency advised them of the fire at about 8.30am. The fire had been extinguished and a person's body was found next to the vehicle, police said. Police are carrying out a scene examination.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Power cuts after possible tornado rips through Hamilton
Emergency services and council staff are helping with the clean up after a possible tornado ripped through suburbs in Hamilton on Thursday night. Tiles have been ripped off roofs and power lines brought down in Nawton and Dinsdale. Power was cut to nearly 100 homes there at about 9.30pm, but had since been restored. A further 300 homes in and around the southern suburb of Bader lost power at midnight but this was restored within an hour and a half. Early on Friday more than 170 properties remained disconnected. Civil Defence Waikato said it had received reports of a tornado, although MetService could not confirm that. It said there would be lingering showers as the thunderstorms moved eastwards. Mayor Paula Southgate said emergency services and city arborists were helping with clean up and repairs, and asked people to stay away from the area. Photos posted to social media showed fences blown over, a trampoline stuck in power lines and emergency services attending to a hole in a roof. Emergency services attended more than a dozen weather related calls overnight. Fire and Emergency were also called to trees blown down in Clevedon and Mangatangi, south of Auckland. High winds have been battering the region. Earlier on Thursday two homes in the city lost roof tiles and some trees were downed in the suburb of Dinsdale. One business had minor flooding. Severe thunderstorm warnings for Kaipara, Far North, Whangārei and Rodney issued earlier in the day by MetService had since been lifted. Elsewhere, Waipā District Council said a sudden hailstorm may have caused surface flooding in some areas. St Peter's Catholic School in Cambridge posted a video of the aftermath to its social media account. Hail at St Peter's Catholic School in Cambridge, Waikato this afternoon. Photo: Screengrab A Cambridge resident also posted "scary hail storm ... never seen anything like it" on social media. A low was moving eastward across the North Island, bringing possible severe gales, MetService said. It said there was also a low risk of a small tornado, which could occur with or without a thunderstorm. MetService said during Friday and over the weekend, a strong west to southwest flow would affect the country. Watches for the possibility of severe gales were in place for several areas, including Hawke's Bay, Southern Fiordland, Southland, Stewart Island, Clutha and Dunedin. There was a high chance these watches would be upgraded to wind warnings. A strong wind watch was also in place for Chatham Islands with a moderate chance of an upgrade. "Damage to trees, powerlines, and unsecured structures [are] possible. Driving may be difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles," MetService said. The forecasting agency advised residents in these areas to secure items that could be picked up by strong winds and drive cautiously. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Kaipara, Far North, Whangārei and Rodney. Photo: MetService Meanwhile, road snowfall warnings were in place for three roads in Southland and Central Otago. Lindis Pass (SH8), Crown Range Road and Milford Road (SH94) were expected to have snow accumulate on Friday. In Bay of Plenty, State Highway 25 north of Thames was closed due to a slip early on Thursday. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said the highway would remain closed while it awaited a technical evaluation and there was no detour available. It said motorists should avoid the area. Lanes on State Highway 2 near Ōpōtiki were also blocked due to multiple slips on Waioweka Gorge. Motorists can still travel on this route, however, they are advised to take care. NZTA's System Manager for Waikato Andy Oakley said it knew the state highway needed increased resilience and this was a focus for the agency. Fortunately, the wild weather is likely to clear up just in time for the weekend. During Friday and Saturday a strong west to southwest flow affects the country, MetService said. "We will still have the hangover from the current low pressure system that's moving across the country. So, strong southwesterlies persist through to Saturday," MetService's Heather Keats said. A ridge of high pressure over the North Island until Monday will calm the weather, with clear skies for most of the weekend, she said. However, there will be some showers in the south and west of the South Island. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Dunedin bar with blocked fire exits to keep licence after safety improvements
Fire and Emergency says so long as The Bog Irish Bar completes and maintains important steps to improve safety at the premises, they are happy for the licensee to continue their business. Photo: Google Maps A popular Dunedin bar will not have its liquor licence suspended after locking its fire exits and not opening them when asked to. Fire and Emergency has withdrawn its application to suspend The Bog Irish Bar's licence after a district licensing committee hearing in Dunedin this week. Last month, a fire inspection found two of the three fire exits were padlocked shut when he visited. He told staff they needed to be unlocked and contacted Gurbani Club Limited directors - which operates the bar - about the breaches and what they needed to do to comply with fire regulations. But police found the fire exits were still blocked during a visit later that week. During the committee meeting, Gurbani Club Limited co-director Karandeep Singh described it as a "profound wake up call" that should not have happened and detailed what they had done to comply. Fire and Emergency community risk manager James Knapp, who inspected the bar, said the locked exits were a serious risk to people's safety. "However, it's clear that the licensee has recently taken a number of important steps to improve safety at the premises, including a safer locking system, fire safety signage, and staff training," Knapp said. "As long as those measures are completed and maintained, we're happy for the licensee to continue their business." Fire and Emergency would have an opportunity to provide input when The Bog's licence went for renewal later this year, he said. He reminded businesses to check their own fire exits and evacuation schemes to make sure they were up to scratch. "Building owners and tenants must make sure people can escape from their buildings if a fire starts, and their employees must be trained to help them get out," Knapp said. "We're making it a priority to ensure that fire evacuation schemes are in place, and will follow up complaints with inspections if we think there's a cause for concern." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Investigation into Bluff boat explosion may see the carrier untouched for years
TAIC investigators visit the ship. Photo: Supplied/TAIC An investigation is underway into an explosion on a ship berthed in Bluff that could see the bulk carrier stuck in the South for years. Three crew members were injured in the fire, which happened in the early hours of Saturday morning. A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said four fire trucks responded to the alert, which was received shortly after 3am, and assisted ambulance crews with getting the injured off the ship. Hato Hone St John transported the injured crew members to Kew Hospital in Invercargill, two in serious condition and one in a moderate condition. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) said crew members were working on a boiler in the engine room when there was an explosion or flashback. TAIC was investigating the incident as a serious marine casualty as required under international maritime regulations, a spokesperson said. The ship will be unable to leave port until the investigation is finished due to a protection order had been placed on parts of the ship. The order gave TAIC the power to protect and restrict access, and to require people provide papers, documents, records or other items, including voyage and engine data, recording equipment, the boiler and boiler system, and videos and photos taken by the crew. While it did not apply to the entire ship, apart from from urgent safety actions, obeying the order meant the crew cannot operate the boiler system, voyage data system, effectively marooning the ship at South Port. Many TAIC investigations can take two years or longer to complete. The three investigators deployed on Sunday included experts in ship control and command, engineering and digital data extraction and analysis. The team conducted interviews and collected physical and digital evidence, and wrapped up the on-site investigation on Wednesday, the spokesperson said. Different lines of inquiry will be followed over the next few months, with work in later stages - particularly during analysis - potentially requiring further evidence collection. The investigation would determine the broader circumstances and cause, but TAIC investigations did not ascribe blame or liability, he said. Maritime NZ confirmed it was investigating, but declined to answer further questions. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
