Cost of blaze estimated at $80,000

The cost of the Flat Top Hill conservation area fire has been estimated at $80,000, but its cause remains a mystery.

A crew of five Department of Conservation staff spent yesterday dampening down hot spots on the 20ha of the 813ha conservation estate near Alexandra which burnt on Monday.

• Entomologist brands Flat Top fire as 'wanton vandalism'

Doc Otago deputy principal rural fire officer Trevor Mitchell said monitoring of the area would continue for several days until he was sure the fire was out.

"There's five people on the hill keeping an eye on it, and as the day warms up, there's little hot spots which keep smoking and smouldering, so they're putting those out."

The weather forecast for today was for a southerly with cooler weather and possibly some showers.

"Some showers would be ideal, of course, but whether that happens is another thing."

Mr Mitchell said the cause of the fire remained a mystery, although the place where the fire started, next to State Highway 8, was clear.

"We're still investigating and not ruling out any causes just yet, but we have narrowed the starting point down to within a metre.

"You can tell lots from the way the vegetation is burnt and get an indication from the charring, but certainly, we haven't found a definite cause yet.

"We're tracking some lines of inquiry and we're also aware there's lots of extra people in the area on holiday."

The cost of fighting the blaze, so far, was estimated at $80,000, he said.

That covered the work done by the fire service and Central Otago District Council staff, and the cost of hiring Queenstown-based helicopters with monsoon buckets.

About 40 people were involved in fighting the blaze.

Some of that cost might be able to be recovered if a person was found to be responsible for starting the fire.

lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz