Palmerston chief fire officer Gary Johnston said the large blaze could easily have been extinguished with the help of some rain and less wind.
''We kept looking behind us, over the hills at Macraes, and it was clearly raining, almost snowing.
''But it just kept going around us, which was a bit frustrating. It really would have helped.''
Mr Johnston said the alarm was raised about 3pm when smoke was seen coming from farmland in Chalmers Rd, near Palmerston.
The fire was situated in the gully of a small pine plantation which had been felled recently. The branches were in wind-rows.
However, strong winds pushed the fire across an access road into a small shelter belt of trees and some old stumps.
Mr Johnston said the strong winds threatened to spread the fire to the nearby Blakely Pacific forestry block which covered hundreds of hectares near Trotters Gorge.
He said about a dozen fire appliances from Palmerston, Waikouaiti, Hampden, Weston, Kakanui and Waitaki Rural Fire attended the blaze.
Adverse weather meant it was not suitable to use helicopters with monsoon buckets.
Rather than fight the main fire in the gully, firefighters focused on the nearby shelter belt to stop the fire from spreading.
The main fire ran out of fuel and burnt itself out, he said.
''The way that wind was blowing, it was a real threat. We were lucky that we were able to contain it.''
Mr Johnston said there was a fire in the same spot about three months ago, which firefighters had trouble putting out because roots continued to burn underground.
''I'm just wondering with all that strong wind on Saturday, if it got into it and flared it up again.
''Of course there was plenty of fuel there for it to reignite and burn,'' he said.
However, official investigations into the cause by Waitaki Rural Fire are continuing.
Mr Johnston said the fire was now believed to be out and the Waitaki Rural Fire brigade left the scene about 1pm yesterday.
