'We need rain and we need it quick' - Top firefighter warns Southland and Otago residents over fire risk

January 18, 2018

The blaze took hold behind the Central Otago resort town at the start of this month.

Resident's in Southland and Otago are being warned to show extreme caution after a fire that ripped through 200 hectares of Wanaka hill country was revealed to have been started by someone disposing of hot ashes.

The big dry down south has led to total fire bans in many regions this summer and Principal Fire Officer Graeme Still is looking to drive the message home.

"It's only taking a tiny little spark to get a fire started," he warned.

Typically the worst of the fire period lasts until the end of February which has Fire Services understandably on edge.

"It's not the worst, but its shaping up to be the worst, we need rain and we need it quick," Mr Still said.

A two week long investigation by Fire and Emergency New Zealand found a recent scrub fire in Wanaka that hit national headlines was caused by a local resident discarding ashes from their outdoor fire at the back of their property.

Regional manager Mike Grant says they'd cooled the ashes for three days, and tipped them out on gravel. When they saw they were smoking they hosed them down, but three days after that they became the ignition point for the fire that consumed 200 hectares of scrub.

He says they've done everything they thought they should, and what's happened is the extreme conditions we've been having have aided that fire to stay smouldering and get away.

He says they've been working closely with the property owners who started the blaze, and they've been hugely supportive, but "it's yet to be determined" if they will face repercussions.

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