A Queenstown resident says they were "totally lucky" a suspicious grass fire was stopped by a helicopter in the nick of time, as firefighters warn there are major risks of fire in the region.
Hansen Rd resident Robin Martin said the fire in Hansen St, which started in vegetation at the side of the road and has been referred to police by a Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) fire investigator, was very nearly catastrophic.
He lived three properties over from where the blaze started about 5.40pm on Monday.
Property owners had attempted to put out the fire but it had been caught in the wind and started to spread, Mr Martin said.
Firefighters arrived and at one point they ran out of water.
"At that stage it got pretty nerve wracking," Mr Martin said.
A helicopter with a monsoon bucket arrived in the nick of time and extinguished the fire.
"It was pretty heart stopping," Mr Martin said.
He was concerned that a lack of maintenance of the verges by the council might have contributed to the fire.
While he was pleased for the prompt action of volunteer firefighters, he was disappointed it had got to the point where they were needed.
Home owners also had an obligation to keep their sections neat and tidy, Mr Martin said.
He had lived in the area for 12 years and a similar incident had happened several years ago when a substation caught fire and flames spread to surrounding long grass several years ago, Mr Martin said.
Fenz community risk manager James Knapp said the incident was a "near miss" and it was only thanks to the efforts of the volunteer fire brigades that homes were not damaged or destroyed.
"It shows just how quickly a small fire can grow into a blaze and be very difficult to bring under control," Mr Knapp said.
