A fire that engulfed about five hectares of pine forest southwest of Lake Hawea on Friday was finally declared "out and all-safe" late yesterday morning. Four Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) crews spent the weekend containing spot fires and monitoring the forest on the slopes of Mount Maude, near Wanaka. The massive blaze is believed to have started about 5.20pm by the roadside near Capell Ave, the turn-off into Lake Hawea near State Highway 6. On Friday, many other Lake Hawea residents and visitors saw the drama unfold from Lake Hawea Hotel, watching as four helicopters used monsoon buckets to collect water from the lake and dump it on the forest blaze, containing it. Fenz crews from Lake Hawea, Wanaka, Makarora, Luggate, Tarras, Dunstan, Blackstone (Omakau) and Glenorchy tackled the blaze.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 04, 2018 15:45 UTC