Hundreds of people watched two helicopters with monsoon buckets fight a raging vegetation fire in the Dunedin suburb of Waldronville yesterday evening.
A Fire Service spokesman said it received multiple calls just before 6.20pm about the blaze, next to the Otago Pistol Club's shooting ranges.
By 7pm large clouds of black smoke were pouring from a burning tyre wall next to the shooting ranges as firefighters sprayed foam in an effort to contain the flames.
Otago principal rural fire officer Dr Stephanie Rotarangi said the fire, which was believed to have started in the tyres, burned about 5ha of scrub next to the shooting ranges.
Five appliances and two helicopters with monsoon buckets were involved in fighting the blaze, which was contained by 7.40pm, Dr Rotarangi said.
The fire spread quickly due to high winds but did not threaten any property, she said.
Hundreds of people stopped their cars on Brighton Rd and watched the blaze from across the Kaikorai Estuary.
Among them were locals Lloyd West and his son Daniel (11), who both thought it was ''cool'' to be able to watch the helicopters scoop water from the estuary, before dropping it on the flames.
''Half of Brighton is here,'' Mr West said.
Daniel said it was impressive how quickly the helicopters put the fire out.
''It's better than TV,'' he said.
Earlier in the afternoon, two Mosgiel Volunteer Fire Brigade units put out an 80m by 10m blaze next to Dunedin's Southern Motorway.
