A large fire at a hay barn north of Christchurch overnight is being treated as suspicious. Fire crews were called to the barn on Spencerville Rd near Brooklands about 1.30am this morning to find it well alight. A fire investigator would be at the scene today, Fire and Emergency NZ southern shift manager Andrew Norris said. Twenty-one firefighters had spent the morning containing the blaze and pulling apart about 150 large bales to dampen down any hot spots. "We've just crews dampening down hot spots and pulling it apart, because it will still be smouldering."

Source: Otago Daily Times July 21, 2019 20:03 UTC