Fires sparked by lightning, hail pelts Nth East Valley

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Timelapse video by Craig Baxter

Dunedin experienced it all today - after a fine day turned gloomy and a brief lightning storm sparked fires in the city.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said crews were called to a 6m x 3m grass fire on Miller St in Green Island at 2.15pm today, believed to have been caused by a lightning strike.

13-year-old Conor Casey captured a lightning strike over Dunedin from Rotary Park Close, in Shiel Hill. Photo: Conor Casey

The fire had been contained, he said.

Crews were also trying to gain access to a fire in a remote area north-west of Outram, which was also believed to have been caused by lightning.

And in Halfway Bush, crews were investigating smoke seen in the area, he said.

Video: Vaughan Elder

Sunday started off fine but things gradually got darker, with rain hitting Dunedin by mid-afternoon including hail in North East Valley.

- By ODT Online and Daisy Hudson

1 Comment

Comments

Mehavesnoname Sun, 08/12/2019 - 3:43pm #

"believed to have been caused by a lightning strike"

It was a lightning strike, i saw it and it was just out of shot of the camera as i was filming. :( Was only a couple blocks away from it at the time and it was crazy loud.