Pigeon Valley Fire

Project Info

Client: FENZ National Incident Team

Land Dimensions Projects Value $750,001–$1.5M Award

Awarded to Taylors by Civil Contractors NZ Nelson Marlborough Branch 2019

Project Description

2019 CCNZ Nelson Marlborough Award Winner. $700,001 – $1.5 million category, sponsored by Land Dimensions Ltd

We were very honored to win the above award for our work assisting on the Pigeon Valley Fire. This was a massive event for our local community and we are very proud of the work we did and the sacrifices made.

The fire broke out 5 February 2019 in Pigeon Valley, Wakefield, Nelson, and quickly spread to forest land. Due to extreme fire conditions and strong winds the fire turned into the biggest fire in NZ since the 1955 Canterbury fires, destroying an area of approximately 2300 ha. Over 3000 people were evacuated.

On the 6th February Taylors Contracting became part of the FENZ National Incident Management Team, working together with other contractors and service providers in the region to bring the fire under control. At the height of the fire we were assisting FENZ with the co-ordination of a 24 hour a day seven day a week operation involving 94 Taylors staff, 60 other local contractors’ staff, 16 excavators, 11 bulldozers, 2 graders, 4 transporters, 33 water tankers plus field support staff, mechanics and office support staff. We also played a role in water supply co-ordination, access, usage monitoring and management, which became critical as the drought continued to bite.

As a combined unit the heavy machinery team did an outstanding job and through our combined skills & efforts we managed our tasks very well, considering the potential risks and consequences of a wildfire operation.

The judges commented “the way Taylors pulled together and the calmness they operated with, was at the highest level”. Taylors put a focus on personal safety and coordination, with a lot of work done outside of the fire as well.