Firefighters battling two major blazes in Central Otago

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has sent multiple appliances to a grass fire and others are battling to control a blaze engulfing a home. Photo / NZME

Firefighters are tackling two significant blazes in Central Otago.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has sent appliances to a grass fire, potentially threatening a house, at Lowburn, and to a single-storey house being engulfed by fire at Ophir.

A Fenz spokesman said the Lowburn fire was burning across a 400m-wide front, "so it's a reasonable-sized grass fire".

At Ophir, firefighters from Omakau and Alexandra were alerted at 3.35pm and arrived to find the house "well involved in fire".

Firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze, but there were no reports of anyone inside at the time the fire began, he said.

Earlier today, fire crews in Invercargill contained a blaze that prompted the evacuation of the Kelvin Hotel about 11.15am.

The alarm was raised after the basement became smoke-logged, prompting the hotel's evacuation, but the fire had since been contained and extinguished.