After Port Hills: What is NZ's fire risk and what does that mean for rural communities?

Yet another fire has burnt through hundreds of hectares of vegetation on Christchurch’s Port Hills.

It would’ve been deja vu for residents – for those who experienced the 2017 fire – as the blaze forced hundreds to evacuate their homes and required round the clock action by firefighters to try and contain it.

The fire has largely been contained – but as the planet gets hotter, how common could these types of wildfires become in years to come? And as we reconsider building on floodplains and cliffsides, do we also need to look at the fire risk when building homes?

Today on The Front Page, we're joined by director of climate change consultancy Climate Prescience, Dr Nathaneal Melia, to discuss the fire risk of our changing climate, and University of Auckland lecturer in Urban Planning, Dr Iresh Jayawardena, joins to explore if that risk should make us reconsider where we build. 

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You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

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