Photo by Andrew Ashton.
Rural firefighters were greeted by the sight of a row of
burning trees yesterday when they arrived at a rural fire near
Georgetown, 22km inland from Oamaru.
Firefighters are pictured extinguishing the trees near
Uxbridge Rd.
Waitaki Civil Defence emergency services manager Chris Raine
said firefighters were called after a burn-off ''got away''
from a local farmer.
''It's travelled on the wind and got away from him. We are
using portable pumps. We are using soap to make the water
wetter.''
Mr Raine said three crews from the Waitaki Rural Fire Force
attended the blaze, which started about 3pm and was still
being quelled three hours later.
A second fire was reported on the Glenavy side of the Waitaki
River about 6pm, as crews were still dealing with the
Georgetown fire.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.