Farm fire hits festivities

TEAM: Two Featherston firefighters work to halt the fire as it moves across a paddock.

Fire crews across South Wairarapa and Carterton had to forgo their Christmas dinner to fight a spreading shelter belt fire near Tauherenikau.

Cattle were seen fleeing the smoke as a light westerly breeze pushed the fire across two paddocks before 7pm on Thursday while entrenching itself in three shelter belts, nearly a kilometre from the closest access on Pharazyns Rd.

Featherston fire chief Colin McKenna, first on the scene with his brigade after crossing several paddocks, said the situation was a "logistical nightmare" for fire crews with limited water and difficult access.

As they arrived, a farm worker was heard pleading with crews to stop the fire before it reached a water race and paddocks with bales and tall, tinder-dry grass "otherwise it's all going to go up".

Seven appliances, with crews from Featherston, Carterton, Martinborough, Greytown plus the Wairarapa Rural Fire Force, including Lake Ferry, joined the fight to contain the blaze, which spread on a 300m front across paddocks and set trees and stumps alight in shelter belts.

Firefighters took more than an hour to bring the blaze under control, in temperatures close to the 28C high at midday.

The brigade members had to drag sections of hoses through fences and up to 100m at a time, in full protective gear, then wait in choking smoke for water to be connected.

The fencelines along the burning shelter belts were all live with electric fences, adding to the frustration.

Carterton's 13,000-litre tanker provided the difference, re-stocking in Featherston.

Crew from the Wairarapa Rural Fire Force remained on the scene to deal to smouldering stumps and determine the cause of the fire.

It was speculated an electric fence short might have been responsible.

Fire crews were called back yesterday about 11.30am after the fire "re-ignited" in a small spot which was doused quickly.

Meanwhile, sweltering temperatures caused tyres on the silage stack of a Maungahau Rd, Waingawa farm to ignite at about 3pm resulting in the call-out of a fire crew and water tanker. Thick smoke billowed across the area.