Scorched earth

Photo by James Beech.
Photo by James Beech.

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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