Australasian journal of disaster and trauma studies: Volume 22, Port Hills wildfire special issue
This special edition of the Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies focuses on lessons that can be learned from the February 2017 Canterbury wildfires, to help authorities and communities to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from future wildfire threats.
In February 2017, two wildfires in the Canterbury region of New Zealand merged to form a devastating, extreme wildfire event which threatened hundreds of properties within the rural-urban interface on the fringe of the city of Christchurch. Fourteen houses were destroyed or significantly damaged and over 450 households fled the blazes while hundreds of firefighters, military and other emergency personnel responded. Fourteen helicopters equipped with monsoon buckets and three fixed wing aircraft were deployed in what became a major operation for the region’s emergency services.