Crews to continue battling fire

Published: 11:50PM Tuesday March 09, 2010

Source: NZPA

Read

Tools: Email Print Text Size

Crews to continue battling fire (Source: ONE News)

The scene of the McLeans Island fire - Source: ONE News

Fire crews will continue battling a scrub fire at McLeans Island, northwest of Christchurch, on Wednesday morning, with winds expected to pick up later in the day.

Three crews are remaining at the scene overnight.

Multiple Fire Service and rural crews fought the blaze alongside three helicopters on Tuesday.

The Fire Service was called about 11.30am.

The fire had covered an area of about 19ha, including 8ha of pine trees and 11ha of grass, Christchurch City Council regional fire officer Keith Marshall told NZPA.

It was contained by 4pm.

There was no damage to buildings but pine trees measuring up to 12 metres high were destroyed and farmers would have lost grazing areas, he said.

The cause of the fire was unknown and would be investigated.

An excavator would be brought in tomorrow to shift "large piles of wood" so firefighters could dampen down hotspots beneath the pines, Marshall said.

The MetService had forecast northeast winds for the area tomorrow.

The fire was the second in the area since last night, with Fire Service staff "very suspicious" about how it started, officer-in-charge Dave Burford told NZPA.

The fire had come close to large powerlines carrying electricity north, he said.

Tools: Email Print Text Size