Aerial photographs taken today have revealed the scope of the damage caused by the fire at Lake Ohau.
About 100 firefighters have been on the ground battling the fire at Lake Ohau today while helicopters have stayed grounded due strong winds.
Winds of up to 160kmh challenged firefighters tackling the Ohau fire this morning, meaning helicopters with monsoon buckets were unable to get up in the air.
The fire has burnt through more than 5500ha since it started on Sunday.
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Incident Controller Rob Hands says this has been a complex fire.
"This area features a range of different fuels, including wilding pines, grass and tussock. It also features steep terrain. These variables can make firefighting difficult.
"Today our crews have been targeting hotspots, as well as focusing their efforts around the southern end of the fire, to secure the perimeter.
"While the winds have been strong, it has been pleasing to see that we have managed to keep the fire within the containment zone."
About 15 people, including two fire crews, will monitor the scene overnight.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it was expecting less wind and better conditions this evening.
"Drones will be operating tonight to map hot spots and critical areas for fire crews to focus on tomorrow."
Earlier
The fire had pushed out in one corner due to high winds, but firefighters had managed to contain it again, Mr Hands said earlier today.
“Now we’re working on a couple of hot spots, one in the north-west and one in the south east.’’
About 100 people were fighting the blaze.
“We have downscaled our air operations.’’
Twelve residents had been escorted into the village by Fire and Emergency New Zealand staff.
Most of them were allowed in for about 30 minutes to retrieve essential items and medication.
Meanwhile, a fire chief has recounted the “apocalyptic’’ scene firefighters encountered when they drove into unprecedented flames at Ohau Village on Sunday.
Twizel chief fire officer Simon Fox was one of the first on the scene early on Sunday, after his pager woke him up.
“I had lots of thoughts racing through my head.’’
As he raced towards the village he was met by several residents fleeing the flames.
“My first impressions when I got very, very close was ‘this is going to be one of the biggest jobs I’ve ever seen’.
The devastation of the properties, the speed at which that fire travelled, and that ember traffic, I’ve never experienced before.’’
“It was actually apocalyptic, to me.
“Driving into that village, I actually had to look at the tarseal, to see where I was going.’’
By the time he got to the scene, good decisions had been made to get firefighters together in one place.
“I did become quite concerned that we were possibly in a position where we had fire on both sides of us, but we had nowhere to go.
“It was a concern to me.’’
The wind was loud and swirling, and the ember traffic was “unbelievable’’.
“The decision to enter that village and put crews in there weighed very, very heavily on me.’’
He was impressed by how quickly the village was evacuated.
Several residents went door to door to make sure everyone got out.
“To see them lose everything, it’s hard to describe that feeling, but I firmly know that my crews and all the urban crews, we did our very, very best to save what was saveable in that village.’’
He personally knew some of the residents there.
“I ended up speaking to one on the Sunday, we were both nearly in tears to be fair.
“It was just very emotional.’’
