Firefighters dampen hotspots after winds whip up blazes in South Island

South Island firefighters were dampening down two hotspots early today, as the morning dawned calm and clear following the strong winds yesterday that whipped up fires across Canterbury.

About 7.30am rural crews were at a pine plantation at Tumbledown Bay, near Picton, where a fire had started around 9.45pm, fire southern communications centre shift manager Andrew Norris told NZPA today.

Firefighters were carrying out dampening down work and a helicopter might be sent in later in the day to help with the task.

Crews were also dampening down at a small forestry block in Winchester, South Canterbury, he said.

"It was very busy yesterday afternoon and last evening, but it's all back to normal now."

The morning had dawned clear with light breezes, Mr Norris said.

Previously conditions had been good for burnoffs, and the strong winds yesterday had reignited fires in some of those burnt areas.

Some other fires had been started by problems associated with powerlines, he said.

The strong nor'west winds yesterday had firefighters scrambling to contain fires across Canterbury as well as knocking out power supplies.

Firefighters battled in hot, blustery conditions while trees blown down onto power lines cut power to households in parts of Belfast, West Melton, Springfield, Hororata and at Lake Coleridge.

Some Christchurch homes also lost power when branches fell onto lines leading to the houses.

Orion spokesman Colin Wright said most of the affected households had power back within a couple of hours, but those at Lake Coleridge had to wait longer because of the difficulty in reaching the source of the problem.

MetService figures showed winds peaked at 74km/h in Christchurch, 85km/h in Timaru and 80km/h in Darfield, but could have been much higher in other areas, a spokesman said.

Fire Service communications spokesman Riwai Grace said fires had sprung up around the region all afternoon and had kept volunteer rural brigades and local authority firefighters busy.

The biggest fires had been at a Kaiapoi timber yard, in a pine plantation near Motunau, North Canterbury, and in Methven, where firefighters fought for one-and-a-half hours to contain the blaze.

Most of the fire was contained in the yard, but some spread a short distance outside, said Kaiapoi chief fire officer Paul Delis.

At Weedons, a greyhound trainer had to pull his dogs from their kennels to save them from a fire threatening his home and that of a neighbour.

The fire was believed to have started in a pit of sawdust and horse manure in a neighbouring paddock.

Strong winds pushed the fire across the grass and into trees surrounding two houses on Maddisons Road.

Rolleston Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Greg Rolton said when he arrived the run for the greyhounds was on fire.

"He (the owner) was pretty keen to get the greyhounds," Mr Rolton said.

Neighbour Owen Chatterton said he was sharpening the blades on his mower to cut hay when he saw smoke.

Mr Chatterton said he went to the properties and saw the fire closing in on the houses.

"They were lucky (for the houses not to be burnt) -- the fire was in the trees around them."

Winds created further havoc in South Canterbury as a child was narrowly missed by a falling branch, a highway was blocked by falling trees and power was cut to at least 1200 homes .

A large branch came down from a tree alongside the golf course on Domain Avenue, Temuka. It landed next to a child walking in the area.

Gusting conditions took their toll on trees and power lines, setting fire to grass at Temuka and making it difficult for motorists in the Mackenzie Country.

Walking around outside at the Mt John Observatory was "a bit of a chore" in the 110 knot winds, observatory superintendent Alan Gilmore said yesterday. He classed the wind as medium to strong, with staff at the observatory not getting too excited about wind conditions until they hit 140 knots.

- NZPA