HOW A CHILLY BIN PROBABLY SAVED OUR LIVES AND WELL DONE A TRUE UNSUNG HERO

Sandi from Hurunui District

Sunday early evening….We stopped on the way home to Hawarden to get shopping in Amberley. I had issues with getting the lid on the chili bin for some reason it just would not fasten and those few extra seconds fastening it probably saved our lives!!

We left the supermarket and were driving north on SH1 not far from Amberley when my husband suddenly yelled WHEEL! I was looking out the passenger window at the time at the red sun and did not grasp the word wheel and what he was on about but in that split second as I turned to face forward this wheel was flying across the road right to left in front of us and had we been those few seconds earlier(WITHOUT the chilly bin issue) it maybe would have struck us. Coming towards us traveling south was a car towing a caravan that was now yawing over the road as the driver tried to stop as the caravan was lopsided having lost the flying wheel and the axle was gouging out the road/berm where it had started at least two fires just short of a pine shelter belt. It was a raging Norwester wind and tinder dry so this fire was going to spread.. We had pulled over by now in shock to call the fire brigade then realized we did not have a phone with us or any water or fire extinguisher that we could use, only a wet towel as we had just been swimming and were bare foot.. not a good idea in a fire! We slowed the oncoming traffic down to alert them and fortunately, one of those vehicles pulled over and someone leaped out with a fire extinguisher. WHAT A HERO. WHOEVER THAT WAS SAVED THE DAY AND DESERVES RECOGNITION.


By now we were really in the way as traffic was now coming from the south and several other vehicles had stopped coming from the north so we moved off to allow room for people the skirt around the scene. As there were now a lot of vehicles on the scene we felt sure someone else would have got a phone to call the fire brigade so shaken at our very close shave we drove off but we could see the smoke as we looked back from across the Weka Pass. Shortly after a police car from the Waikari direction came screaming towards us in the direction of the fire so we knew it was no good us stopping at the Waikari station as we had planned they were already onto it and some traffic direction would have been needed as the SH1 was busy



If we had not had the chilly bin lid issue for those few seconds things could have been very different!! The wheel bounced right in front of us and flew at a great height over the fence and way into a paddock on the west side of the road. I would be very surprised if they found it as it went so far from where the caravan pulled over. We have informed the police of what we saw and we hope that the caravan and driver were OK and that the fire was controlled as the wind was very strong. We checked when we got back but the only fires on the news were the ones in the Ashley River and near Ashburton. The Waikari and Hawarden fire crews had not been called out so we hope all ended well.
Well done to that quick thinking person with the extinguisher. Note to everybody, maybe we should all carry an extinguisher just in case. WE USUALLY DO but our vehicle had just come back from a WOF so everything had been taken out and not yet put back as I intended getting the vacuum in there before returning everything . So THANK YOU to that person whoever you are and maybe the car and caravan driver needs to check his wheelnuts before your errant wheel kills someone. It was VERY CLOSE!!!