A Hawke’s Bay firewood seller says the Government needs to start regulating the industry to stop bad players from selling wet and green wood to unsuspecting customers. 

John Caulton, the owner of both Donovan’s and Woodstocks Firewood, said the firewood industry was “ridiculously” unregulated and poor-quality wet wood was sold by “numerous” sellers, often through social media. The green wood also generated worse pollution, which had negative health repercussions. 

“The sooner the Government regulates wood merchants, the better. It is all about pollution — wet wood pollutes, and it is up to the Government and the Environment Minister to get going on this and make a ruling,” Caulton said. 

He said in the past six weeks he has had two customers buy a cord from him because the first one they got from another seller was “green” and couldn’t burn. 

“They went for price and they got suckered. People are dishonest and telling lies about their wood, the condition or the age of the wood so to speak,” he said. 

“People are not educated and they make irrational decisions based on their finances I suppose. Everyone wants a cheap deal. But you can’t get a cheap deal when it comes to wood, it has got to be seasoned and dry, so it has got to hang around for that time.” 

Caulton and his partner, Chrissy, have been in the firewood business about 30 years and assisted with the beginning of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Good Wood scheme. 

John Caulton (pictured) and his partner, Chrissy, have been in the firewood business about 30 years and assisted with the beginning of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Good Wood scheme. Photo / Warren Buckland 

Last year they were inundated with requests for firewood after the cyclone due to the many people without power, and floods wiping out fellow local firewood business Meeanee Firewood. 

His advice for customers was to get their winter firewood early in the previous summer and to seek out seasoned, dry wood. 

“People must realise that to buy quality, seasoned, dry wood, they’ve got to pay a good premium. Otherwise, they end up with wet wood and it is not beneficial for the fire, the heat output or the condition of the chimney.” 

He said their wood was in the yard for three years on average before customers got it, and they had about 8000 tonnes of wood for the next three years. 

“It stays in log form for two and a half years on average depending on the species. Then we ring it, split it and then finish it off, and at the moment the moisture level is down well under 18 per cent.” 

A moisture level of 25 per cent is considered dry firewood. 

He said they stocked gum, macrocarpa, pine, she-oak, douglas fir and kānuka, but mainly supplied a “cosy mix” of six species of wood for $600 a cord. 

According to the New Zealand Home Heating Association and regional council Environment Canterbury, macrocarpa or mānuka firewood should be dried for three to five years, while blue gum should be dried for five to six years. 

Lauren Treagus, co-owner of Meeanee Firewood with her husband Hayden, said they were operating part-time again after their business was wiped out during Cyclone Gabrielle, and sales had been good so far this season. 

“We lost everything so we are building back up from ground zero,” Treagus said. 

They are still searching for a location to rebuild on while they work from a temporary site. 

“We are getting [firewood] brought in from another company that is helping us out. We get a truckload in when we need it until we get back on our feet,” she said. 

“We’ve got our regular customers who have come back and are supporting us after the cyclone which is amazing, and we’ve also got new customers so that’s even better.” 

She believed there was more awareness among the public about wet wood, but people still needed to do their own research before buying. 

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. [email protected] 

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.