Photo source: Mark Price, Otago Daily Times
Fire services have not ruled out suspicious behaviour to be the cause of a large fire near Wanaka, which burned through about 100 hectares of tussock overnight.
Fire and Emergency southern communications shift manager Lyn Crosson says the service doesn’t know the exact cause of the fire but has been in touch with police.
“We are considering it is a possibility that it is suspicious but the exact cause has not been established at this point in time.”
The blaze lit up the sky last night as trees were ablaze in the Diamond Lake area, about 10km from Wanaka. It was reported to emergency services just before 9.30pm.
It was also reported that one firefighter was injured while moving a log, and was taken to hospital as a precaution. No structures or livestock were lost.
Ground crews and helicopters were still fighting the blaze this morning but the fire has since been contained says Crosson.
“The fire has been extinguished. It is out. We do still have just a perimeter crew just inspecting around the top just to make sure there are no hotspots, but we have no concerns at this stage that it might reignite."