17/03/2026
🔥 THE RAETIHI FIRE OF 1918
This day 108 years ago In March 1918, the Waimarino district experienced one of the most destructive bushfires in New Zealand’s history. After the hottest summer locals could remember, the land lay parched. Streams had dried, pastures were bare, and vast areas of felled native bush were tinder‑dry. When a sudden gale struck on the evening of 18 March, dozens of small burn‑offs merged into a single catastrophic firestorm.
THE PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR DISASTER
A Land Ready to Burn
Months of extreme heat and drought, heavy bush felled for farming, left to dry
Sawmilling debris scattered across the district, Numerous small clearing fires already alight
The environment was primed for ignition.
THE NIGHT THE WIND ARRIVED
At dusk, a violent 125–140 kph gale swept across the district. Sparks and burning debris were carried for miles. Within minutes, isolated fires combined into a massive front that advanced with astonishing speed.
Eyewitnesses described the landscape as “a raging furnace of driving fire.”
THE FIRESTORM
A District Engulfed
The fire spread from Horopito to Mangaeturoa, along Waipuna Ridge, across Morikau Station, and down the Parapara Road. Entire settlements, including Rangataua and Karioi, were destroyed.
Over 100 homes lost
Churches, shops, the police station, and the dairy factory burned
21 sawmills destroyed
Thousands of livestock killed
Bridges, fences, and pasture consumed
Families fled through smoke and falling debris. Some escaped by train; others sheltered in streams, culverts, and even empty water tanks.
THE AKERSTEN FAMILY
A Tragic Loss
At 4am, Joseph and Edith Akersten, their infant daughter, and their farm worker, Sydney Scott, attempted to escape through the Mangaeturoa Valley. Overcome by smoke and exhaustion, the family collapsed and perished. Sydney survived by climbing a tree and holding on for nearly eleven hours.
The Akerstens were later buried in an unmarked grave in Raetihi Cemetery.
A REGION IN DARKNESS
The smoke plume spread far beyond the Waimarino:
Dawn was delayed in Christchurch
The ferry entering Wellington Harbour could not locate the Heads
Schools in Carterton closed due to darkness
The lower North Island lay beneath a heavy pall of smoke.
THE RAIN AND THE AFTERMATH
Rain began to fall between 9 and 10am on 19 March, slowing the fire’s advance.
When the smoke lifted, the scale of destruction became clear: a once‑green landscape reduced to blackened ruin.
With no machinery to bury dead stock, the stench became overwhelming.
A harsh winter followed, and later that year the 1918 influenza epidemic struck the district severely. Many believed the smoke inhaled during the fire worsened its impact.
RELIEF AND RECOVERY
New Zealanders responded with remarkable generosity.
£18,000 donated by the public
£10,000 government subsidy
Clothing and supplies sent nationwide
Loans provided for re‑fencing, re‑grassing, and re‑stocking
Despite immense hardship, the Waimarino rebuilt.
MULTIPLE FIRES, ONE DISASTER
Later analysis suggests the “Raetihi Fire” was not a single blaze, but multiple fires merging under extreme winds. While some areas burned fiercely, others—surprisingly—did not. Patches of native bush survived intact, evidence of the fire’s chaotic and uneven path.
