South Island fires: Crews have got three large fires under control this afternoon

Firefighters managed to control a vegetation fire at Templeton in the Selwyn District, which was reported shortly after 4 pm on Saturday. Photo/Luigi Cooks

Fire and Emergency have extinguished one of the three fires in the South Island, while the other two were largely under control by 1pm on Sunday.

The fire at Templeton, which left a firefighter hospitalised with smoke inhalation, was brought under control yesterday evening and was no longer being monitored.

Meanwhile at the fires on a forestry block at Glenham, FENZ crews had departed the scene after getting under multiple spot fires under control this morning, and the sight would now be monitored by the landowner.

The fire at Templeton in the Selwyn District, which was reported shortly after 4pm yesterday. Photo/Luigi Cooks

FENZ shift manager Darryl Ball said crews would continue to monitor the site of the large vegetation fire on a steep hillside above Lake Dunstan in Central Otago, though it was relatively under control and he expected crews to leave sometime tonight.

FENZ crews worked through strong gusts to secure the perimeter of the blaze until nightfall on Saturday, returning to the scene at 8am today.

Incident Controller Bobby Lamont said the firefighters from local volunteer brigades and the helicopter pilots had done a tremendous job in very challenging conditions to limit the fire to three hectares.

“The fire had reignited about 4.20pm from an earlier fire started by fireworks last night.”

Helicopters were used to battle the three blazes. Photo / Luigi Cooks

The fire was on Fruitgrowers Rd, a short distance from the Clyde Dam, and smoke had blown over both Clyde and Alexandra townships, which had now dispersed.

“The winds in the area have been horrific - thankfully the face where the fire is burning is slightly sheltered, and we slammed extra resources onto it to make sure it didn’t impact the transmission lines from the dam,” Lamont said.

“Central Otago is already in a restricted fire season due to the dry conditions and elevated fire danger, as is the Lakes District and Upper Waitaki.

“We are urging people to think twice about letting off fireworks in windy conditions, and be aware that it only takes one spark to cause a wildfire.”

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023, and covers the Otago and Southland regions.