Whakarau fire not fully out

A Firetruck at the scene of an emergency

RURAL fire authorities remain watchful at the site of the major vegetation fire on the Whakarau Road two weeks ago and, despite further rain, the fire has not yet been formally declared extinguished.

The fire burned through about 50 hectares of grass, scrub and young pine trees on three properties before it was contained.

“We overflew the fire ground with an infra-red camera last weekend and found numerous hot spots,” said principal rural fire officer Ray Dever.

“We had crews there on Monday and Tuesday dealing with those and had planned to use a chopper and the camera again this morning — but the weather prevented it.”

Mr Dever said another 50mm of rain was needed in the Whakarau Road area before they would be prepared to declare the troublesome fire fully extinguished.

“We will continue to monitor the fire ground over the weekend. It could be another two months before we are sure enough to declare it out.

“It certainly has been been problematic and it puts into perspective the mammoth task faced by firefighters in Christchurch when they get around to dealing with hot spots from the Port Hills fires.”