Saturday, 16 August 2025

Crews fight 'tricky' St Bathans blaze

    By Matthew Littlewood
    1. Regions
    2. Central Otago

    Smoke rises over the small Central Otago town of St Bathans. Photo: Supplied/Susanne Falkensammer
    Smoke rises over the small Central Otago town of St Bathans. Photo: Supplied/Susanne Falkensammer
    Central Otago fire crews spent the Saturday afternoon dealing with a "rather tricky" vegetation fire that spread in St Bathans.

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Daryl Ball said they received a call about 12.45pm on Saturday about the fire.

    "It's not necessarily huge, but it was rather tricky because it was hard to access."

    A helicopter spent two hours on the scene, while crews from Ranfurly, Blackstone and Omakau also attended.

    A helicopter with a monsoon bucket attacks the blaze behind the iconic Vulcan Hotel in St Bathans...
    A helicopter with a monsoon bucket attacks the blaze behind the iconic Vulcan Hotel in St Bathans. Photo: Supplied/Susanne Falkensammer
    By 3.30pm the fire was largely extinguished. The cause of the fire was unknown as of this afternoon, Mr Ball said.

    A witness said it appeared the fire began as a burn-off pile but it quickly got out of control.

    "After lighting the burn off pile the fire spread to the grass and bush within a couple of minutes," she said.