Dunedin fire: Residents flee devastating blaze

Dunedin residents forced to leave their homes by a large fire in the suburb of Burnside will find out if they are allowed to go home on Thursday. One hundred homes were evacuated after the devastating fire rampaged through the suburb on Wednesday evening. The temperature in the city had already hit a national high of 34 degrees celsius, setting the scene for what followed. Witnesses said the fire began on a hill near Mount Grand and swept through a timber yard, several industrial buildings and 25 hectares of trees in minutes. It narrowly missed igniting a building filled with gas canisters. Some locals, including Ruben Morison, heard loud bangs coming from several industrial buildings. The Saint Clair golf course was turned into a makeshift welfare centre, managed by Paul Allen from Civil Defence. RNZ's Ian Telfer was there.