Officers home in on origin of blaze

Department of Conservation (Doc) fire investigators have narrowed down the areas where the vegetation fire on Tuesday may have started and are gathering information from witnesses on the pattern and travel of the blaze.

Doc Wakatipu fire investigator Jaime Cowan and Doc Otago deputy principal rural fire officer Trevor Mitchell, of Dunedin, have been on the scorched site of the fire to determine its cause and origin since 3pm on Tuesday, after the fire was under control.

Mr Cowan said yesterday they were speaking to residents who saw the fire in its early stages and helicopter pilots who were first on the scene. They had also taken an aerial overview by helicopter.

Mr Cowan expected their findings to be lodged by the end of next week. However, their report would not be made public, as it might be used in legal proceedings to determine the parties responsible, if cost recovery of the fire-suppression operation was sought.

When asked, Mr Cowan said yesterday he could not comment, or speculate, on the cause of the fire. However, he said, "it is widely known there is a tree down over the power line."

Two separate fires broke out in the area known as Seven Mile, off the Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd, early on Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of about 25 residents from nearby subdivision Alpine Retreat at 7am and the alert of residents in Moke Lake, Wilson Bay, Closeburn and Corsican Dr.

The first fire spread 300m in length and 150m in width, above and to the west of luxury Matakauri Lodge, which had no guests at the time. The alarm was raised at 6am when an Alpine Retreat resident called 111, but the fire was known to have started earlier, the investigators said.

The second fire measured 400m in length and 200m in width and burned only about 50m from the first blaze. Investigators were determining which one started first.

The fire reached within 3.5m of a vacant holiday home on a hill up a private road. Fine fuels, including bracken and broom, of up to 2m in height had been burned to the ground and power poles and wilding pines were charred.

Queenstown firefighters arrived soon after 6am and rain by 8am made a difference to fire-suppression efforts, the investigators said. Up to seven helicopters dropped lake water from heli-buckets.

The fire was contained by noon and the last Doc rural firefighting crew departed at 4pm.

Mr Cowan said the fire indices were fairly low on Tuesday, which meant heavier fuels were not fully dry.

Mr Mitchell said it was a slow-moving fire.

"It's fortunate it wasn't in the height of summer."