Fire warning issued after Cromwell blaze 29th December 2012

[JennyLeez]

Central Otago fire officers have issued a warning after amateur footage emerged of an out-of-control fire which nearly destroyed homes and a vineyard.
Dozens of fire-fighters were called in to battle a blaze on a rural Lowburn Valley property near Cromwell.
It was all hands to the pump as the fire burned out of control, threatening a number of nearby homes and a vineyard.
It's believed rubbish burning in a drum started the blaze, and central Otago's tinder dry conditions fuelled it.
Resident Janine Smith says she can't believe how fast it took hold and how close one of her neighbours came to losing his home.
“It got up and hit some of those piles of wood and it just ‘woof’, she says.  “The flames really started at that point and they were going up the trees.”
Fellow resident Liz Harris-Watts was also watching.
“Within a minute the flames were just metres high it was actually quite scary and it just took off - up the big pine trees and all you could hear was cracking and burning,” she says.
Dozens of fire fighters from around the area battled the blaze and had to contend with difficult wind conditions.
Neighbour Chris Miller says he was worried the fire would spread to houses in the area.
“I was getting a bit worried especially about that new house down there it was sort of  creeping back towards it,” he says.
It took three hours to put the fire out completely.
Central Otago’s senior rural fire officer Owen Burgess says it should never have started, and as the hot dry conditions continue, people need to remember there's a strict fire ban in place.
“It’s so dry out there people have been got to be really careful and it is a prohibitive fire season,” says Mr Burgess.  “There's no permits issued.  There shouldn't be any burning at all including incinerators.”
It is a timely reminder that lucky residents strongly agree with.


TV3 News.co.nz

• Tweet