Forest search underway yesterday
Police received reports of a person lost in the forest off Kaipaitangata Rd at 3:32pm yesterday. Having received the location of the individual, police were working to find and rescue them at print time. At that point, a police spokesperson said there didn’t appear to be “any injuries or other factors of concern”.
Water short
The region’s hydrologist community will have noticed an error in yesterday’s article about Masterton District Council [MDC] encouraging residents to forestall further water restrictions by being more careful about consumption now. It was stated that “about 32 per cent – or 4.3 cubic metres – of average daily water volume is lost through leaks”. Unfortunately, it appears some zeros evaporated in the ether between MDC and the Times-Age – the estimated amount of water lost to leaks in the Masterton district’s water system is actually 4300 cubic metres.
Fire risk
There is a heightened fire risk in the coming days across Wairarapa. Fire and Emergency [Fenz] has upgraded the fire danger level on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to “Very High”, meaning that fires have the potential to quickly grow and get out of control. Wairarapa is currently in a restricted fire season in which no fires are allowed unless permitted by Fenz [you can apply for an open-fire permit – as well as get tips on how to stay ‘fire safe’ – at www.checkitsalright.nz]. Extreme care and caution are advised with fire or any activity that may cause a fire this week. If you see smoke or a fire that looks out of place, dial 111 immediately.
Where there’s ‘smoke’ there’s sheep
Both police and Fire and Emergency [Fenz] were alerted to reports of a scrub fire near East West Access Rd and Te Hopai Rd in Kahutara at about 4.30pm on Tuesday afternoon. When crews arrived, they confirmed there was no scrub fire but instead a sheep truck “throwing up a lot of dust”, according to a police spokesperson.
