Fire too fierce for firefighters

A blaze near Mosgiel has now consumed 700ha of forest, and two more houses have been evacuated.

Dunedin residents awoke to a thick blanket of smoke this morning that covered the city until mid afternoon.

Civil Defence and Rural Fire manager Neil Brown said it was one of the largest fires of its type in the region.

The fire is being fanned by northwesterly and northeasterly winds that were predicted to continue for the next few days.

Ten helicopters and a fixed wing aircraft were being used to slow the spread of the fire until conditions improved enough to make serious headway into the fire.

More than half of the fire area was made up of pine trees and the remainder was even more flammable, dry, post-harvest debris that was providing ideal fuel for the fire to travel quickly.

Two more families left their homes voluntarily this afternoon, bringing the total number of evacuated homes to five. There were contingency plans in place should conditions change to affect another 10 to 20 homes potentially at threat in the area.

"We are fairly confident now we won't need any more evacuations overnight," Mr Brown said.

The fire could potentially destroy thousands more hectares of pine forest in the area and firefighters on the ground were not able to safely tackle the blaze in most areas.

There are several creeks and other natural barriers that should slow the spread of the fire but it was a matter of waiting for winds to die down and hopefully some rain, Mr Brown said.

"There is just so much fuel there and we are just trying to hold it as tight as we can.

"The potential to burn is quite huge," Mr Brown said.

Earlier report: Ten helicopters with monsoon buckets are continuing to battle a large blaze near Mosgiel, which has destroyed 400ha of forest, and threatens high tension power lines.

The helicopters are fighting the fire on three fronts but the headfire is too "thick too fly'' over, civil defence and rural fires manager Neil Brown, of Dunedin, said this morning.

"So that's going to have to be let run for the moment," he told a press conference this morning.

He said about half the burnt forest was growing trees and half was cut-over.

"The cut-over is proving the most dangerous," Mr Brown said.

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More than 50 firefighters, including crew from Department of Conservation and Clutha District, were at the scene although it was too dangerous for groundcrew to fight the fire.

Three homes had been evacuated, and contingency planning was underway, he said.

He confirmed high tension powerlines were in the area and Transpower had been informed.

There was a possibility fixed wing aircraft, loaded with a chemical retardant would fly over the area today, he said.

Weather conditions were "not favourable'', with hot and windy conditions, he said.

However 10mm of rain was forecast for this evening.

The Pineapple Track was closed to trampers.

The fire began about 3.30pm yesterday, possibly ignited by logging equipment, Wenita Forest Products Ltd chief executive Dave Cormack told the Otago Daily Times.

The fire was not threatening the few houses in the area at the moment, but fire crews were keeping an eye out for wind changes.

Smoke billowing from the fire could be seen from Dunedin, about 30km away.

5am update

Dunedin residents woke to the smell of smoke and the sight of smoky haze over the city as firefighters were today continuing to fight a blaze ripping through a forestry plantation inland from Mosgiel.

Some residents were evacuated last night as flames in the Wenita Forest neared houses, threatened powerlines and held up the Tairei Gorge train trip.

More than a dozen helicopters with monsoon buckets were used to fight the blaze as it continued to burn near Mosgiel through the night.

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The fire, which cast a pall of smoke over parts of Dunedin and the Taieri Plain late yesterday, halted the Taieri Gorge train for more than an hour as flames jumped over the tracks.

The fire on the Mount Allan forestry block began at 3.30pm, and was believed to have been started by logging equipment working in the area, Wenita Forest Products Ltd chief executive Dave Cormack said.

The fire started in a 20ha area that had been logged, but flames had jumped into nearby pine forests affecting a further 20ha.

Forestry contractors were immediately withdrawn from the area while helicopters with monsoon buckets, taking water from the Taieri River, fought the blaze.

Principal Rural Fire Officer Graeme Still said a dozen helicopters worked until dark as it was too dangerous for ground crews to work in the steep terrain.

Three properties had been evacuated and fire crews were working to save them.

Asked if high tension powerlines and Dunedin City Council water pipelines were threatened, Mr Still said "not at this stage".

Fire operations had broken the area into two sectors - north and south.

By early evening, they had the northern sector under control but the southern section was still a problem last night.

In the southern sector, the fire was "spotting", or jumping, up to 300m at a time due to the slope and winds, he said.

"It's pretty erratic."

The wind was blowing up to 27kmh in the afternoon, but had dropped in the evening.

Fire crews would be at the site for a "couple of weeks" as they worked to put the fire out.

"It's rough country out here."

Fire crews were on standby to head to the site at 7am today to tackle the hotspots.

Smoke covered the Taieri Plain, causing flights to Dunedin International Airport to be rerouted and spectators to drive to the start of the Pineapple Track for a closer glimpse.

Mount Allan Rd from the Taieri Plain was closed yesterday.