Fire crews attend a morning briefing on Sunday about the fire near Waitaki which has destroyed more than 800 hectares after a burn-off got out of control. Photo: Supplied / Fire and Emergency NZ
Four fire crews and two helicopters are back at the scene of a large scrub blaze in Otago today.
The fire near Waitaki, which started about midday on Friday, has destroyed more than 800 hectares of farmland, tussock and scrub after a farmer's burn-off got out of control.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident commander Bobby Lamont said the fire did not develop overnight and remained contained and controlled today.
"Our crews of volunteers and forestry contractors, supported by two helicopters with monsoon buckets, will walk the perimeter of the fire today with hand tools to check for hotspots," Lamont said in a statement.
An aerial shot of the fire near Waitaki on Sunday. Photo: Supplied / Fire and Emergency NZ
Lamont said there was a common cause to most of the blazes.
"The majority of those had been from controlled burns that had gotten out of control, which really highlights the amount of available fuel that's around at the moment. We haven't had a whole lot of rain through parts of Otago over the winter."
They wanted to hit the fire hard today as warmer temperatures and windier conditions were forecast for Monday, he said.
On Saturday, Lamont said the flames reached six to eight metres high at one point.
They were fuelled by winds of up to 120km/h before rain set in on Saturday afternoon, he said.