A large vegetation fire which burned through more than 800 hectares of Otago farmland, tussock and scrub has been contained, firefighters say.
Emergency services began battling the fire in Tokarahi, Waitaki at around midday yesterday.
It began as an out-of-control burn off and was fanned by strong winds overnight.
Fire and Emergency NZ incident controller Bobby Lamont said in a statement the fire flared up earlier today with flames reaching 6-8 metres.
“Then around 1pm, rain forced our three ground crews working with hand tools to stop work.”
Air operations were also stood down due to the weather.
Lamont said rain and cooler weather helped suppress the fire and a late afternoon flyover found no evidence of smoke or hotspots.
“We have now stopped all firefighting operations for the day. The landowner will monitor the fire ground overnight and crews will be back at 6.30am tomorrow morning to continue operations.”
Lamont earlier said it was very dry in the Waitaki Valley and Central Otago.
“We ask anyone considering lighting an outdoor fire to check the weather and wind forecast before they proceed.”