Cause of fast-moving wildfire under investigation

Sunday, 28 January 2024

Up to 25 firefighters are mopping up after a fire burned through 50 hectares of vegetation and several farm buildings in North Canterbury.

The fire began on the side of State Highway 1, beside the Hurunui River, at Domett just before 1pm on Saturday.

Five helicopters, 16 fire trucks and a command unit from 14 fire stations across North Canterbury were involved at the peak of the blaze.

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Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) incident controller Bruce Janes said the fire spread quickly from the side of Domett Rd and was estimated to have covered about 50 hectares.

No houses were damaged but several farm buildings were destroyed, including part of an old railway station that was being used to store hay.

Janes said Fenz had a strategy of escalating the resources sent to vegetation fires on days like Saturday when the fire danger was extreme - and that strategy had paid off, allowing firefighters to contain the blaze quickly.

Just before 8pm Saturday, Janes said pockets of active fire were still being extinguished and “the long hard slog” of strengthening the perimeters of the fireground and mopping up hotspots was under way.

Helicopters were no longer needed, but diggers were still on site putting out the fire, he said.

One crew patrolled the fireground overnight and up to 25 firefighters were back on Sunday to continue mopping up.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, Fenz said.