Smoke spews from a holiday house in Ophir. Photo: Pam JonesFirefighters have extinguished two blazes in Central Otago this afternoon. Fire and Emergency New Zealand sent appliances to the grass fire, which potentially threatened a house, at Lowburn. An Otago Daily Times reporter at the scene of the Ophir fire said the blaze had consumed the interior of an old holiday home. The alarm was raised after the basement became smoke-logged, prompting the hotel's evacuation, but the fire had since been contained and extinguished.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 27, 2017 03:11 UTC