File photo Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Three households have self-evacuated and farm buildings have been destroyed as firefighters battle multiple wildfires in two rural areas of the Waitaki District.
Fire and Emergency said the fires, which were reported shortly after midnight, were now contained.
In the Nenthorn area, about 30km from Middlemarch, Fire and Emergency incident controller Bobby Lamont said crews had been working on three separate fires, burning in windy conditions.
Lamont told Morning Report that they had 12 appliances and about 35 firefighters working on putting out the blaze overnight.
"We've just switched them out for some fresh crews. We've got five appliances and three tankers, supported by three helicopters at the moment," he said.
The fires has burned through 78 hectares of farmland.
Lamont said the crews overnight did an amazing job to protect houses in the area.
"One came very, very close to being extremely damaged so they've done a really, really good job."
While no homes were lost, Fire and Emergency said a small number of farm buildings were destroyed or damaged at Nenthorn
Work to consolidate the fire perimeters and extinguish hotspots was under way.
It said residents who self-evacuated from the Nenthorn fire on Sunday night were not yet able to return as crews were still working near their homes.
A fire investigator would be examining the area where one of the fires started to establish the cause.
Lamont said that two other fires were started by embers blown by the wind from the original blaze.
Nenthorn, Ramrock and Butter and Egg roads were all closed.
Another fire burning in the Earthquakes area about 7km from Duntroon has burned through about 30 hectares of conservation land.
The Incident Controller at that fire, Jason Sarich, said firefighters had worked very hard in challenging conditions to contain the fire, with galeforce winds on the fireground overnight.
Another 30 firefighters and two helicopters were working on the fire Monday morning .
They would be joined by two crews of firefighters from the Department of Conservation today. Fire and Emergency's command unit from Timaru was also at the scene.
