The fire burnt about half a hectare of grass in a paddock on Drybread Rd. It had started accidentally from a spark from fencing work being done at the time, Mr Rietveld said.
Five fire appliances and 12 firefighters from the Omakau brigade, Blackstone Rural Brigade, Dunstan Rural Brigade and Alexandra Volunteer Fire Brigade attended the fire, which took about 15 minutes to put out. Firefighters then spent about another 20 minutes dampening down hot spots.
A farmer was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.
Mr Rietveld said the fire could have been far worse, as northwest winds were blowing the 1.5m flames towards a nearby house, and a paddock of ryecorn was nearby, which would have "taken off" if the flames had reached it.
There was still an extreme fire risk in Central Otago, and a total fire ban was likely to maintained in the region for about another month, Mr Rietveld said.
