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Otago fire - Source: ONE News -
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Firefighters are continuing to battle a huge blaze that is destroying forest near Dunedin after favourable weather conditions overnight helped keep the spread to a minimum.
Colder temperatures and cool light winds are helping the latest fire crews tackling the blaze.
Wenita Forest Products spokesman John Kerr says they have made major gains and if the weather stays the same throughout the day they will be in a good position. He says they are now able to move in ground crews to douse the flames.
But Kerr says there are three areas which are a priority as the fire threatens more mature wood resources. He says the areas of concern are where the fire is spreading in a direction they don't want it to. Kerr says aerial drops will continue and heavy machinery is in place to make more fire walls.
The fire has been raging for more than two days and has so far 700 hectares of forest at Mount Allan, about 30 kilometres north-west of the city.
Authorities have evacuated four rural homes as a precaution and have issued a health warning as choking smoke drifts over Dunedin.
Civil Defence and rural fire manager Neil Brown told Breakfast it has been like a "fog of smoke" enveloping the city.
Brown says a new incident management team is taking over on Thursday to give weary local fire crews a break. He says the national team is likely to manage the situation for the next couple of days before local firefighters get back in and "finish the job".
Brown says the steep terrain makes it a difficult area to access and the fire is blazing through fairly mature forest. And he says the sheer size of the area makes it a "pretty difficult event to manage".
Much of the fire has been considered too dangerous for ground crews to fight.
The fire is expected to cost in excess of a million dollars.
Civil Defence and rural fire manager Neil Brown says the 10 helicopters being used cost around $20,000 an hour and the loss of stock is also substantial.
The helicopters and a fixed wing aircraft have been used to slow the spread of the fire but the pilots were stood down overnight Wednesday so they could get some rest.
Firefighters are hoping for a wind change to lower the risk to homes and conditions are currently settled with no wind and clear skies. No further evacuations are planned at this stage.
The fire is believed to have started through logging operations in the forest, which is owned by Wenita Forest Products. It then spread to a tree plantation.
Brown said it is one of the largest fires of its type in the region and is being fanned by north-westerly and north-easterly winds that are predicted to continue for the next few days.
More than half of the fire area is made up of pine trees and the remainder is even more flammable, dry, post-harvest debris that is providing ideal fuel for the fire.
There are several creeks and other natural barriers that should slow the spread of the fire but it is a matter of waiting for winds to die down and hopefully some rain, Brown says.
"There is just so much fuel there and we are just trying to hold it as tight as we can.
"The potential to burn is quite huge," Brown says.
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