A hunter prevented a Fiordland hut from burning to the ground after waking up to find its floor was hot.
The Department of Conservation praised the actions of the Southland man, who raised the alarm after trying to douse a fire smouldering beneath the floor of the Hope Arm Hut, near Manapouri, on January 15.
Doc Te Anau ranger Craig Good said the fire was caused by hot ashes from the hut's log burner left next to the building the day before by three young foreign trampers.
Two piles of the popular 12-bunk hut were destroyed after an overnight breeze blew embers underneath the building.
The hunter returned to Manapouri by mid-afternoon and rang the Te Anau Doc office.
Mr Good travelled by helicopter to the hut, where he found the fire still burning.
The piles had burned to a depth of half a metre under the ground.
"We opened the hut door and it was overwhelmingly hot inside - like a sauna - it must have been close to igniting.''
He and the pilot threw buckets of water on the hut's floor, then doused the fire underneath with water from the hut's tank.
After returning to Manapouri to fetch hoses and shovels, they crawled under the hut and completely extinguished the fire.
The hut's four overnight occupants were "very, very lucky'' the fire didn't fully ignite, he said.
The trampers responsible could not be contacted.
"They probably don't know to this day what they've done.''
The fire caused $2000 damage, but replacing the hut would have cost more than $150,000.
Some temporary supports have been placed underneath it, and volunteers will replace the two burned piles.
Doc Te Anau operations manager Greg Lind said the hot, dry weather had raised the fire risk, but most fires were caused by carelessness.
Anyone who lit a camp fire was responsible for ensuring it was fully extinguished.
Ashes should be disposed of at least 20m from buildings and clear of vegetation.
