Wind picked up discarded embers of wood used to warm tubs at Hot Tubs Omarama, starting a fire at the facility that lasted about 20 minutes, the town's fire chief says.
Crews from Rural Fire, Otematata and Omarama Volunteer Fire Brigades arrived at the tourist attraction just before 7.30pm on Wednesday.
Omarama chief Terry Walsh said it did not take long for the brigades to get the fire under control, but they were at the scene for about an hour and a-half dampening down hot spots.
He said the used embers were usually dampened down by staff, but in this instance they had not got to them in time.
The wind lifted the embers up and started the 100m by 10m fire on a nearby grassy bank.
There was no danger to property or life during the fire, Mr Walsh said.
''We were lucky there was no strong wind that could have fanned the fire.''
Hot Tubs Omarama owner and operator Jan Thomas thanked the brigades for their work and the guest that spotted the smoke.
''We had an awesome person in a tub alert us to it.''
She said the fire did not affect business too badly. She cancelled a group and one group left, but people still stayed.
''They had entertainment watching the firemen.''
