Strong winds hampered firefighters' efforts to contain a vegetation fire on an island in the Waitaki River at the weekend.
By yesterday afternoon, the blaze was contained, but had burnt 72ha of vegetation on the island.
Otago Rural Fire Authority principal rural fire officer Dr Stephanie Rotarangi said the fire, on an island near Otekaike, was reported about 3.30pm on Saturday.
It was inaccessible to the three crews from Duntroon and Kurow that were first to respond.
Four-wheel-drive equipment was brought from Oamaru so crews could reach the island.
Two helicopters and three rural fire crews battled the blaze until dark on Saturday and the site was monitored overnight by deputy principal rural officer Kerry O'Neill.
When the fire jumped from the island about 2.30am yesterday, to the South Canterbury side of the river, fire crews returned.
Ten firefighters and one helicopter remained at the scene yesterday and by 4pm, they had contained the fire to 72ha.
A crew remained at the scene overnight.‘‘Perimeters are all contained now and we're working on mopping up,'' Dr Rotarangi said.
Strong winds on Saturday drove the fire and made fighting the blaze more difficult, while yesterday's conditions were more favourable for firefighting.
‘‘The winds are gusty, which is not ideal, but we were ready for that,'' Dr Rotarangi said.
‘‘The wind is still quite unpredictable, though, and we're putting a lot of foam and water on the fire so that if the wind does pick up, it won't take off again.''
While fire crews had completed initial investigations into the cause of the fire, it was too early to comment on any possible causes.
A full investigation would be carried out today, she said.
Heliventures NZ helicopters dipped monsoon buckets into the Waitaki River, while ground crews were pumping directly from the river to douse the fire.
No structures were threatened, but several people were camping in the vicinity. Most had packed up by yesterday.
The Waitaki River island fire was the second in the district at the weekend. Six fire crews from Twizel, Omarama and Otematata were called to a grass fire in Lake Ohau Rd on Saturday.
The fire burnt about 7ha of vegetation, but was contained by about 3pm, Dr Rotarangi said.
‘‘Those crews in the Waitaki Lakes have been pretty busy,'' she said.
