The major bush fire near Middlemarch has been finally extinguished, but that’s not the end of troubles as bills are expected to roll in soon – prompting officials to become increasingly concerned.
The cost of the 5,000 hectare blaze is still unknown, and officials are still figuring out if there’s enough insurance to cover it.
A spokeswoman for Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) said concerns regarding the costs of the fire and the number of contractors working at the scene must be processed under the Official Information Act.
Paul Turner, response national manager at FENZ, added that they may not know the actual cost for “sometime after the event,” but explained that it will initially be met from their fire suppression budget, which is funded by fire insurance levies.
“A decision on how costs will be apportioned across the agencies will be made if the fire was found to have started on public conservation land,” Turner told Otago Daily Times.
Meanwhile, the Department of Conservation (Doc) confirmed that around 1,100 hectares of the blaze occurred on its land.
A spokesman for Doc said it would take them weeks or months before they finally figure out the costs and where they fell – emphasising that it’s still too early to say what financial implications there would be. However, he did not clarify if they have any insurance that might cover the possible costs.
