North & South – June 2019

24 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

HelicopterpilotTobyReidwasfight-

inga blazeinBlenheimwhennewscame

ofanotherfireclosertohome– inPigeon

Valley,justa fewkilometresfromhis

family’sfarminWakefield.Bythetime

hearrivedatthescene,it wasalready

burningoutofcontrol.

“Itbecameintenseveryquickly,”he

says.“Thespeedatwhichit wasmoving

wasquitedauntingandthewind,dry-

nessandlackofhumidityaddedtothe

danger.Itwasevidentit wasgoingtobe

oneofthelargestfiresI’deverseen.”

Tobywastednotimerequestingsup-

port,includinganurgentcalltohisfa-

ther,Bill,whohe’semployedsinceset-

tingupReidHelicopterswithpilotwife

Rachaelin2007.BillwasawayinWel-

lingtonandcouldn’tgeta flighthome

tillthenextmorning.Astheplaneap-

proachedNelson,stillflyingabovethe

clouds,heknewitdidn’tbodewell

whenhecouldsmellsmokeinthecabin.

“I’ve fought many fires over the years

F LY I N G

HIGH

FAMILY TIES

FionaTerryisaNorth&Southcontributingwriter.

Photography by Tim Cuff.

As thousandsfledthe fierce wildfires

that ripped across Nelsonlastsummer,

Bill and TobyReid wereflyingtowards

the flames.FionaTerry talks to the

father-and-son helicopterpilots

about spending life in the air.