Frankton and Queenstown firefighters quickly extinguished a
scrub fire on private land near Stoney Creek Quarry, far from
any houses, on the slope of the Remarkables mountain range,
on Monday at 1.15pm.
Frankton station officer Mike Ide said it appeared a
lawnmower struck a rock and caused a spark to fly into the
dry vegetation. The man operating the mower raised the alarm
as fire took hold. The blaze was brought under control in
about five minutes and left about 60m sq of scorched land. Mr
Ide said the saving grace was the lack of wind, which meant
the fire did not sweep up the Remarkables.
Two rural firefighting helicopters were on stand-by, but were
not used.
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