A fire near Mt Rosa vineyard at Gibbston, apparently started by rabbit-shooters, took 20 firefighters more than 18 hours to control on Friday night and Saturday morning.
Queenstown Lakes District Council principal rural fire officer Gordon Bailey yesterday said the "extensive fire front" about 1km wide burned reasonably slowly before burning itself out, but scorched an estimated 20ha of dry hillside vegetation above the Mt Rosa vineyard.
Green areas kept the fire away from houses in the area.
Firefighters from the QLDC and its contractors as a rural fire authority, helped by the Department of Conservation Wakatipu area office and the Arrowtown Volunteer Fire Brigade, fought the blaze.
Sgt Steve Watt, of Queenstown, yesterday said it appeared the fire was started by sparks from firearms used by hunters to shoot rabbits in tinder-dry scrub.
Rural firefighters found an intoxicated 47-year-old Queenstown man asleep in a car at the scene when they arrived to fight the fire and called police.
"Upon speaking with police, he said he and his friends had been shooting rabbits on the hill and they started [at least two] fires."
