A large blaze that forced 22 homes in Wānaka to be evacuated resembled “an explosion without the noise” and brought back memories of the 2020 Lake Ōhau wildfire, a resident says. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesperson said eight trucks and three support vehicles brought Saturday evening’s fire in Albert Town, Wānaka, under control. A fire investigator would be on site on Monday to determine the cause. The blaze, which was about 1km of trees and scrub alongside houses, was reported at 7.28pm. No houses caught fire, but it was initially thought up to eight houses were threatened. Police evacuated 22 homes. Windy conditions meant firefighters dealt with hot spots, flare-ups and ember transfers. [Missing Credit]Bystanders gather outside to watch a large fire in Albert Town, Wānaka, that forced 22 homes to be evacuated on Saturday evening. Photo: ODT The emergency response was scaled back about 11pm once heavy rain started to fall, with no crews in attendance on Sunday, the spokesperson said. Lagoon Averesident Mario said his neighbours saw the fire just as it began and described it as “an explosion without the noise”. “It was quite frightening the way it was kind of spreading, but it was under control very quickly, and then there were little snippets where it just sprang up a bit.” It brought back memories of the October 2020 Lake Ōhau wildfire, which destroyed 48 homes and buildings and damaged 5043ha of land. “We’re surrounded by shrubbery, trees everywhere, and I thought ‘bloody hell, if this got out of control, it could be quite frightening’.” He commended the firefighters for bringing the fire under control quickly. Lagoon Ave resident Sally Mackay said she was alerted to the fire by a neighbour. “We were sitting watching some rugby or something on TV and [the neighbour] banged on the door and said: ‘fire, get out, get out’. “We all rushed outside.” Mrs Mackay, who turned 80 on Sunday, said the fire was “a bit of a scary birthday present for me”. It was a bit close for comfort, about 300m-400m away from her property. She described seeing “raging yellow flames”. “It was pretty scary; it sort of took us by surprise. “Thank goodness it didn’t get our property.” She had always been afraid of the kānuka and mānuka, which there was a lot of around Albert Town, and the fire risk the trees posed. “It shook me up, really, just to see that mānuka go. “I’d hate to think if there was ever a fire on Mount Iron… one spark would just set so much going up around this area.” Queenstown Lakes District Mayor John Glover said he was grateful for the efforts of firefighters and police. “The rate of the fire spread and the size of the flames … are very, very graphic and would have been extremely alarming for anyone there.” There was a large reserve at Mount Iron which was not too far away, so if the fire had started at a different location it could have been much bigger. Fire loading and surrounding vegetation were things they would need to be mindful of going into warmer periods, he said. Firefighters also responded to a 600m-long scrub blaze at Oreti Beach, Invercargill, about 3am on Sunday. A Fenz spokesman said the fire was spreading through gorse and conditions were windy. It was upgraded to a second alarm. About eight crews were in attendance. They extinguished the fire and left by 9am. A fire investigator had visited the scene and the fire was deemed suspicious, the spokesman said. tim.scott@odt.co.nz
