Many of 3000 people forced from their homes by one of New Zealand's worst forest fires in decades are set to make their way back. After a nearly week-long battle to halt a 2300-hectare blaze creeping towards the South Island town of Wakefield, civil defence authorities on Monday announced evacuated residents would be allowed to return in the evening. Some 150 firefighters, 23 helicopters and two planes spent the weekend trying to slow the flames and favourable weather conditions had allowed them to reduce the danger, Civil Defence incident controller Roger Ball said. “This decision does not mean the fire is out. Nor is it controlled," he said. "Firefighters will continue to be in the field for weeks, if not months." Residents were warned they may need to flee again if conditions worsened, while 400 people in nearby areas still considered dangerous would have to continue to wait. New Zealand has in the past experienced significant scrub and grassland fires but this month's blaze is reported to be the biggest to tear through forest land since 1955. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, but one house burned down. The fire is believed to have started at a nearby farm on Tuesday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as "unique and intense" while announcing funding to help residents on Monday. Firefighters also contained several other fires that broke out in the region during the week amid drought-like conditions. 15/1/2019 Doctors go on strike across New ZealandJunior doctors in New Zealand have walked off the job, hobbling hospitals and kicking off a possible second year of public-sector strikes across the country. About 3300 resident doctors - 80 per cent of the workforce - on Tuesday began a 48-hour nationwide strike after a breakdown in talks over pay and conditions with authorities. Hospitals say they expect thousands of non-urgent surgeries to be deferred and have called on senior physicians to pick up extra shifts to maintain services. The doctors, gathering in front of hospitals across the country, say new conditions proposed by health boards could exacerbate already-long shifts and 10-day working rosters, creating dangerous conditions for patients and staff. "[They] could be required to work for more than 16 hours in a row, without guarantee of rest or safety," NZ Resident Doctors Association president Courtney Brown said. "It is disappointing and frustrating that we are being forced to strike just to keep our terms and conditions.” Health authorities, meanwhile, say current work arrangements are too rigid and more flexibility is required. The dispute is the first of what may be a series of large-scale public sector strikes in New Zealand this year, and continues a 12-month period of industrial action. About 30,000 of the country's nurses went on strike last year, bringing hospitals to a crawl, before reaching a pay agreement in August. A similar number of primary school teachers also walked off the job, citing increasing workloads and poor pay increases, and are mulling further action this year. High school teachers also rejected their latest pay offer, with talks now on to try and prevent industrial action in 2019. The government's pledges to deliver surpluses, pay down debt and not introduce new taxes have restricted spending options and left some organisations in the public sector disappointed. Opposition politicians have accused the Labour-led government of raising expectations during election campaigning only to fall short while in power. Ministers, however, say the offers being made are significant increases and that unions are frustrated after nearly a decade of "neglect" under the previous centre-right administration. |
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