Upper Hutt Rural Fire Force
Upper Hutt, New Zealand
The city is 33 kilometres "north" from Wellington, the capital
city, at the southern end of the North Island, accessed up the Hutt River
valley. To the "west", the coast is a 30 minute drive along
State Highway 58 through rolling hill country ("Over the Hayward's").
To the north-east the mountainous Tararua Ranges are only a 15 minute
drive away to their southern limits, through rolling country. To the east
and south, the Rimutaka Ranges are only a short drive over low hills and
across a narrow elevated valley.
Terrain
The district has a total land area of nearly 54,000 hectares.The highest
point, on the northern-east boundary, is Aston at approx 1400 metres.
The highest point of State Highway 2, over the Rimutaka Hill, is 555 metres.
The highest point for the Akatarawa Road is the Saddle at approx 500 metres.
The lowest point is generally at Silverstream ("SW corner")
of about 100 metres.
The navy blue area is the urban area of Upper Hutt City. It has a stable population of over 36,000, and has an urban area of 2351 hectares. The blue hatching indicates Department of Conservation fire alert areas where they and the Upper Hutt City Council have a common boundary, or where they have a reserve within the city's boundary.
Vegetation/Land Use (approx. hectares)
Heavy native bush ............27,488 ..................50.9%
Light bush (incl Gorse)..... 10,558...................19.6%
Pasture.............................. 7,637...................14.2%
Forestry wood lots .............5,071....................9.4%
Urban.................................2,351....................4.3%
Tussock ................................557....................1.0%
Lakes and waterways ...........104.....................0.2%
Misc ....................................204......................0.4%
Totalling: ...........................3.970.....................100%
The prevailing wind is generally a nor-westerly. Apart from a tunnelling effect down the Akatarawa Valley, the "northern" mountains and western hills give significant protection. The Southerly can be cold, but the southern protection of intruding spurs and ridges usually cause the precipitation to drop on them and not in the main valley. Winter can have snow on the higher surrounding hills, but does not prevail throughout the winter season. Only on the north-eastern mountains can this happen. Temperatures in summer can regularly reach over 30 degrees celcius in the valleys, but not so high at higher elevations. Generally, fire bans occur during the January and February months. Winter generally can be below 10 degrees celcius during the day, and drops to freezing at night. Humidity: Southerly weather has a low humidty while the west to nor-west winds have significantly higher humidity, frequently over 70%. These conditions generally require an external influence to cause a fire.