Lake Ōhau fire flares up, as some residents allowed through cordon

Some residents are now being allowed through the fire cordon 17km from Lake Ohau.

The wind is dying down and the rain is clearing.

Earlier, rain fell as firefighters fought to control the blaze, which flared up overnight.

The fire, which was under control, had ravaged thousands of hectares of conservation land and farmland and destroyed 46 houses in Lake Ōhau village.

46 homes in Lake Ōhau were destroyed in the blaze. Photo / Logan Church

This morning Fire and Emergency said due to strong winds overnight there had been some flare-ups.

"Fire crews are managing these and will continue fighting the fire today," it said,

Because of the wind, helicopters were grounded this morning.

"This will be reassessed if the weather changes - it will be a challenging day for firefighters."

Rain was beginning to fall in the area, and that was expected to continue this morning.

Fire and Emergency would update media in Twizel at 1pm on how the day's firefighting efforts were going.

Meanwhile, residents evacuated from Lake Ōhau village who still had homes standing would be able to register for escorted trips into the village with fire authorities to collect "essential items".

Residents with homes left standing could be escorted to the village to collect "essential items". Photo / Logan Church

Resident David Stone would not be one of them – his family's home was destroyed by the fire.

He spoke to the Herald this morning as he tried to find some socks in the local Four Square supermarket.

"I've come to the supermarket because there are not a lot of options for clothing in Twizel," he said.

David Stone's property was destroyed by the fire. He was trying to find some socks to buy in Twizel on Tuesday morning. Photo / David Stone

Forty-eight hours had passed since they were evacuated from their home, and he said he was feeling "very deflated".

It was like "having your personality ripped from you", he said.

He lost everything in the fire.

"Books, photos, art, a comfy chair, slippers ... it's just been stripped from us ... part of us is gone with the building."

He was heading out of town for a few days for a break before coming back to reassess the situation.

Meanwhile, tales of heroism are beginning to emerge from early Sunday morning when the fire broke out.

A friend of Stone's ran "three or four hundred metres" in the dark from her home to bang on their windows to make sure Stone and his wife were awake.

"I believe there was a siren but the wind was gale-force plus, blowing everything in the opposite direction so certainly we didn't hear anything," he said.

"If we hadn't been woken ... we would have been toast."