The owner of a bed and breakfast at Ohau has spoken of a terrifying escape in the dark as he tried to outrun 30 foot flames heading right for his property.
Dwayne Rennie is the co-owner of The Barn At Killin B&B, a property badly damaged by the forest fire that has swept through Ohau Village.
Speaking from the Twizel Fire Station this morning, he told the Otago Daily Times the first he knew of a problem was when the phone rang at 3.30am.
Mr Rennie, along with his partner, his niece, parents-in-law, and four guests were all at the property at the time.
"I looked out the window, smelled smoke and just saw a massive orange blanket of flames, 30 foot flames, pretty much coming straight down towards us.
"Our neighbour’s property, a nice big house on the hill, was a silhouette with flames behind it.’’
They tried to get out of their driveway but were not able to, so they had to go cross country instead.
He made it to Twizel, with only the clothes on his back.
He thought he had only slept for about an hour since then.
"I’m a little bit in shock,’’ he said.
"I’m just shaky and running on nervous energy.’’
Offers of help had flooded in from the Twizel community, and from around the world.
"Complete strangers were walking up to us,offering us places.’’
He said there had been good information coming through from emergency services, even though many details were still unknown.
"It’s so dangerous, there’s just no way anyone could get out there to look at things.’’
His father-in-law had seen the property before they were evacuated. The second storey had collapsed, outbuildings were gone, and some caravans outside were also destroyed.
He said there were about 15 or 16 permanent residents of the village, and the rest were holidaymakers.
