A team of rural firefighters spent 20 hours battling strong winds, dry, inhospitable terrain and a blaze which took out 10ha of Wairarapa scrub, bush and farmland yesterday.
Crews from the Wairarapa Rural Fire Service were called to a vegetation fire on White Rock Rd, 8km southeast of Tuturumuri shortly after 8pm on Thursday.
With winds too strong for helicopter support, about 20 firefighters worked to keep the flames under control throughout the night, and were still hard at work putting out hot spots late yesterday.
"It was a huge, potentially very dangerous job - but the guys managed to keep it contained and under control," regional rural fire chief Phill Wishnowsky said.
"With the combination of the dry weather we've been having, the gale force winds, and the remote location, things could easily have been worse."
