Fire crews have worked through the night to protect houses at Lake Ohau village after a massive blaze tore through the area, destroying at least 20 homes.
Hundreds of residents and holidaymakers were forced to flee for their lives when the fire broke out just after 3am yesterday.
Another six properties north of the village were evacuated as a precaution last night, with 11 helicopters and eight fire crews preparing to battle the 1600-hectare wildfire near Twizel again today.
Eyewitness accounts from the area have described scenes of devastation in the once idyllic lakeside spot.
A local farmer said it was terrifying how quickly the fire moved in the high winds, while others described arriving in the village yesterday and finding melted road markers and homes completely destroyed .
North Otago Federated Farmers high country chairman Simon Williamson told the Otago Daily Times the fire highlights the “huge risk” of retired land and wilding pines in the area.
Breakfast’s John Campbell is in Twizel this morning and will be reporting from the area throughout today’s show.
Meanwhile, firefighters have been kept busy in other parts of the country, too, with blazes in Domett, Livingstone, Ligar Bay, and Ahipara in Northland.
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Auckland decision due
Aucklanders find out today if their Covid alert level will drop from Wednesday.
Businesses are hoping Cabinet will move the city to Level 1, however epidemiologist Michael Baker is still urging caution.
He says he and his colleagues are in favour of an Alert Level 1.5 with continued mask use on public transport and more care around mass gatherings.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has previously ruled out further .5 alert levels.
It’s been nine days since the country reported a new case of Covid-19 in the community, with five new cases confirmed in managed isolation yesterday.
Trump’s health “improving”
US President Donald Trump is “doing well” and could be discharged from hospital as early as tomorrow, according to his physician.
Dr Sean Conley told media Trump is being treated with dexamethasone, a steroid that reduces inflammation. His medical team say the President has experienced drops in oxygen levels , but he hasn’t had a fever since Saturday.
It follows previous conflicting messages from the White House about how well Trump has been faring since his Covid-19 diagnosis.
And while he deals with his health issues, questions have inevitably turned to how Trump’s Covid-19 crisis has helped or hindered his chances of re-election in November. Over at The Spinoff, US politics expert Timothy J Lynch has detailed some of the ways the diagnosis could swing the election.
The outbreak of Covid-19 at the White House has also affected plans for a swift confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
The Guardian reports time is running out with at least three Republican senators testing positive for the virus and others in quarantine.
Swarbrick asked to stand aside
With advance voting for New Zealand’s general election officially underway , Labour’s Auckland Central candidate, Helen White, is calling on her Greens counterpart, Chlöe Swarbrick, to stop campaigning for the seat.
It comes as the latest Q+A Colmar Brunton Poll in the electorate shows a narrow gap between the candidates.
When asked about the possibility of the Greens and Labour splitting the vote on the left, White said she would “love” Swarbrick to drop out of the race “but I don’t think she’s going to”.
Meanwhile, a new Māori Television Curia Market Research poll has shown 47 per cent of voters in the Waiariki electorate intend to party vote Labour, but it’s a tighter race between the candidates .
The poll has Labour’s Tamati Coffey sitting on 38 per cent support, with the Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi at 26 per cent and Vision New Zealand’s Hannah Tamaki on 2 per cent.
Nearly a quarter of the electorate’s voters are still undecided.
“Exhausting” Gloriavale conditions
Former Gloriavale residents have described exhausting work conditions at the isolated community, as the Government encourages others to come forward with any complaints.
It comes after a recent WorkSafe investigation found no evidence of mismanagement by the religious group.
However, some have told 1 NEWS a wide-ranging inquiry is still needed for the 600 residents, with allegations the law-breaking is being kept well hidden.
Other news of note this morning:
- Labour’s Jacinda Ardern has promised her party will expand the Healthy Homes initiative to all of New Zealand if elected.
- The Auckland Harbour Bridge saw some successful repairs over the weekend, however it’s still not operating at full capacity.
- Forest and Bird say hundreds of areas of native habitat around the country are being unlawfully harmed with near impunity.
- The Sustainable New Zealand Party has admitted that a woman featured in one of its online ads is not a small business owner named Jill – she’s actually the party leader’s partner .
- And the Ranfurly Shield is on the move for the third time in three weeks, with Otago losing their first Shield defence to Hawke's Bay.
And finally...
Obviously, a lot has happened in American politics since that first shambolic debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden last week – but sketch show Saturday Night Live still felt it was worth revisiting for their season premiere yesterday.
With Alec Baldwin reprising his role as Trump and Jim Carrey appearing as Biden for the first time, there was no possible way they could have made their debate weirder than the real thing – but they sure gave it their best shot .
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