Highway sparks likely caused 50 hectare wildfire

Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Five helicopters and dozens of fire crews from around Canterbury helped battle a blaze at Domett, in North Canterbury, on Saturday.

The wildfire that burned through 50 hectares of vegetation and farm buildings in north Canterbury is thought to have been started from sparks on a highway.

Up to 25 firefighters, five helicopters, 16 fire trucks and a command unit from 14 fire stations were involved in containing the fast-moving blaze that started on the side of State Highway 1, beside the Hurunui River, at Domett just before 1pm on Saturday.

The cause was still under investigation, but it likely involved an “accidental” spark coming off the highway, said Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident controller Bruce Janes

“We’ve ruled out it was a cigarette or anything like that, but it may have been a spark from a loose chain or loose strop,” he said.

Straps or chains on vehicles can become loose and drag and bounce behind the vehicle causing sparks along the road, Janes said.

FENZ has ruled out anything “malicious” causing the fire, and instead think it was caused by a spark from the highway.

The situation was “nothing malicious”, but teams were still working to figure out exactly what caused several farm buildings to be destroyed, including part of an old railway station that was being used to store hay.