Evacuations were carried out in the Pukaki area, after flames spread across hectares of grass and scrub on 22 July, 2024. Photo: Supplied/ Scott Aronsen
Firefighters are urging South Island residents to postpone controlled burns for the next few days due to a high wind forecast.
A controlled burn became a wildfire on Monday near Canterbury's Lake Pukaki, growing to cover 50 hectares and resulting in overnight evacuations.
Fire and Emergency's Mid-South Canterbury district manager Rob Hands said the forecast for Thursday and Friday was unseasonably warm with high winds.
"Some parts of the plains will experience gale-force winds and high teens in temperatures across this time," Hands said.
"While most of the Mid-South Canterbury District, as well as Canterbury and Nelson-Marlborough, are in an open fire season, FENZ urges anyone planning to burn on these days to put this off for another day."
In Marlborough, the areas of most concern were Awatere, Ward and inland Molesworth due to the weather conditions and dryness in the area, Hands said.
People in these areas were recommended to avoid burns from Thursday to Saturday.
Large parts of the South Island were very dry for this time of year, which created the perfect recipe for burns to get out of control, Hands said.
"It does not take much for a burn to get out of control and put people in danger. There will be many better days to burn over the coming weeks."
People who had already burned in the past few weeks should also be vigilant, he said.
"Please take extra care to monitor your burn piles during this time and take action as needed. We have seen in the past burns from previous weeks re-igniting during these kinds of weather conditions."