An Upper Clutha haybarn narrowly escaped being razed this morning after smouldering hay was found inside before it potentially spontaneously combusted.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said appliances from Wanaka and a tanker from Luggate were called to the haybarn at West Wanaka Station on West Wanaka Rd about 9am.
Firefighters dampened down the hay as the farmer removed haybales from the barn with a front-end loader, he said.
He understood the moisture content in the hay was too high when it was baled.
Excessive moisture was the most common cause of hay fires and wet hay was more likely to lead to a spontaneous-combustion fire than dry hay.
Firefighters remained at the scene until about 1.30pm.
