Extra Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) resources were deployed in the Mackenzie District this morning after a controlled vegetation burn-off grew out of control.
Fire crews were called to a controlled burn in the Coal Stream area, south of Fairlie, and discovered the blaze had escalated to a third-alarm fire.
The 111 call came through at approximately 5am, according to Fenz shift manager Ryan Dawson.
A fire truck and two tankers initially headed to the scene before calling an additional two trucks, five tankers, a smoke chaser and two senior officers to the scene.