New Zealand / Canterbury

Threat of fire increasing concern for Christchurch Adventure Park

23:49 pm on 18 March 2024

The threat of fire is becoming an increasing concern for the Christchurch Adventure Park, its manager says.

Fire tore through 650 hectares of forest and scrub in Christchurch's Port Hills last month.

The fire spread into the adventure park - the second time in seven years the park had been closed due to wildfire.

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

Park manager Anne Newman said it had definitely left workers with a sense of déjà vu.

The park would reopen on Friday following the month-long closure.

The park was devastated by fire in 2017, and closed for nearly a year while repairs were carried out.

Park manager Anne Newman is worried about the ongoing impacts of fire. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

This year's fire left them with concerns about the future, Newman said.

"It's definitely been a case of déjà vu with a fire happening almost seven years ago to the day.

"Fire seems to be becoming a more common occurrence and it's pretty worrying for us as a business in terms of the ongoing impacts. We're doing obviously everything we can around fire breaks and making sure that we've got all the measures in place that we possibly can."

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

The damage this time around was not as extensive as in 2017, with the chairlift, zip lines, and bike trails passing safety inspections.

"In 2017, on the chairlift, the haul rope was damaged. That needs to be reordered out of Austria. This time we've done a thorough check of it and it's absolutely fine, and so that's absolutely fantastic," she said.

Photo: Supplied

The damage was mostly limited to fences and signage lost in the fire.

Workers were rebuilding the trails near the fire breaks and were excited about reopening, she said.

The park would reopen in time for Easter and first term school holidays.