Lake Ohau, Waitaki fire: At least 20 homes destroyed in South Island blaze, residents evacuated

Five helicopters are in the air fighting the blaze. Photo / Supplied

Eleven helicopters and seven ground crews are battling a huge Canterbury fire that has damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes and forced hundreds of residents to be evacuated.

The massive blaze is burning over 1600ha but despite the heartbreaking loss of property, officials say all residents are accounted for.

An Urban Search and Rescue team will be deployed to make a full assessment of the Lake Ohau Village.

Fire and Emergency Incident Controller Graeme Still said the fire was still burning.

"All residents are accounted for and we will have crews in the village overnight in case of any flare ups,"

It had been unsafe for residents to return to their homes to assess damage due to the high winds which were fanning the blaze.

"I am very mindful of how upsetting it is for the residents. Their safety is our main concern at this time.

More than a 100 people had registered at a evacuation welfare centre operating from the Twizel Events Centre.

Crews were working to steer the fire away from other structures and critical infrastructure, including the main power lines servicing Queenstown and Wanaka.

Still said the high winds meant the fire could not yet be contained and he cautioned the situation could change rapidly with any shift in the wind.

As well as the fire crews and helicopters, two diggers and a grader were working to create firebreaks to help safeguard critical infrastructure, he said.

The massive forest and vegetation blaze has torn through one of New Zealand's most idyllic lakeside spots.

Aerial footage shows several rows of homes at Lake Ohau in the South Island have been destroyed in the major fire that is understood to have been sparked by an electrical arc from power lines.

And the fire was continuing to spread southwest early on Sunday afternoon, fanned by strong winds. It is one of three major fires in the South Island today, with 16 helicopters helping fight the flames.

Five helicopters are in the air fighting the blaze. Photo / Supplied

Fire and Emergency says it is burning through pine forest and grass in the Mackenzie Basin, and is being fanned by strong westerly winds, RNZ reports, with the fire said to be racing south towards Ohau Downs.

Fire and Emergency says the 200-hectare fire is burning through pine forest and grass near Lake Ohau.

It has 16 crews fighting it with five helicopters in the air and one more to join shortly.

David Stone told RNZ the small village has about 50 houses, many of which he believes have been burnt down, including his own.

One of the homes lost to fire at Lake Ohau Village. Photo / Supplied

"We've been told it's gone. I've got near me a couple that's lived there for 27 years. Their place, two along for us, is probably gone, well I think it has gone.

"Sort of looking over the smoke that's coming down towards Twizel, it's very prominent to my left, it's been moving around - it's peculiar.

A major forest fire is burning through pine forest and grass in the Mackenzie Basin, and it's being fanned by strong westerly winds. Photo / Omarama Gazette

"There's a number of lifestyle blocks between the village and where the fire is currently. And probably they've suffered, as well."

Stone said cars had also been burnt out and the area resembles a war zone.

Another Lake Ohau resident described the horror of being separated from his father in the dark while driving through the "terrifying" forest fire.

Hugh Spiers, owner of the Barn at Killin B&B, is one of about 200 people gathered at Twizel's events centre after the major blaze started about 3am near Lake Ohau Rd.

"It was like the movies. It was really really scary. The flames were big and smokey, thick with heat, there was no time to even take a photo," Spiers told the Herald.

He received a phone call at 3am warning them to get out urgently.

"We couldn't get out our normal way, we had to cross country through a fire break."

Was woken up to this this morning. Not the damage done like Lake Ohau village. Hope everyone is safe and well there. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/MgcrBW6L8g

— Murray Smith 🥩 (@CharollaisRams) October 3, 2020

Spiers has since reconnected with his father and all his family and guests have been accounted for.

He has owned his bed and breakfast for four years and said he had never seen anything like the fire he witnessed this morning.

"I have seen forest fires and the devastation it can cause, but this was way more frightening because there were people involved."

Spiers said there were reports another 100 or so people were at Lake Ohau Lodge where there was no power and phone lines had been cut.

Assistant area commander Stephen Butler said it was a significant fire covering about 200 hectares.

"Unfortunately some houses in the village have been lost due to the fire."

He said fire crews were walking in very difficult conditions.

"It is pretty devastating. Fortunately, the village had an emergency activation plan, they had a siren that they set off really early which let everyone know they had an issue.

"There was a stream of cars leaving the village when our first appliances arrived at 4am."

"We are currently going to talk to those people and give them a bit of bad news of what is actually happening."

He said no one had been reported missing.

A view of the fire taken from Greta Hut looking down towards Lake Ohau as massive winds push the smoke to the east. Photo / Nikki Adams

It was too early to confirm what had caused the fire but specialist fire investigators were on the scene, Butler said.

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said he had spoken to a number of people who had lost their homes and were devastated.

"They are pretty stoic about the whole situation."

Kircher said there were still people who had been evacuated north and weren't able to get out of the area.

"They are safe. The fire looks to have moved past the village itself into more open space."

"The fire is still roaring - there is areas of pines where it would be very difficult to manage and then there is open space land which although might move quickly is not going to be as dangerous."

Senior Sergeant Paul Robertson said several agencies were now supporting the evacuees, especially those who had lost their homes.

"We've got Civil Defence on board and my understanding is that we'll be contacting Victim Support as well. At this stage we believe we've lost some houses to the fire."

Police have been evacuating all the residents of Lake Ohau Village, as well as campsites and other properties in the vicinity.

🔥 UPDATE 6AM: FIRE NEAR LAKE OHAU VILLAGE

We are currently fighting a significant forest fire near Lake Ohau village.

We were alerted to the fire at 3.20am this morning.

It is burning through pine forest and grass and being fanned by strong westerly winds.

— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) October 3, 2020

"The police and fire [Fire and Emergency] are currently searching through the village to make sure everyone's accounted for."

Robertson says residents were initially evacuated to the nearby Ohau Lodge.

However, Civil Defence says they are now being directed to the Twizel Events Centre.

"There's been extraordinarily strong winds here - Ohau means place of wind, and it's certainly lived up to it."

One of the homes lost to fire at Lake Ohau Village. Photo / Supplied

Police say Lake Ohau Road, off State Highway 8 in the Waitaki district, is currently closed because of the fire.

Police are asking motorists to avoid the area while emergency services are at the scene.

"We've got Civil Defence on board and my understanding is that we'll be contacting Victim Support as well. At this stage we believe we've lost some houses to the fire," said Robertson.

The police have been evacuating all the residents of Lake Ohau Village, as well as campsites and other properties in the vicinity.

"The police and fire [Fire and Emergency] are currently searching through the village to make sure everyone's accounted for."

Meanwhile, a large forest fire has also broken out in the settlement of Livingstone, about 30km northwest of Oamaru.

Fire and Emergency say they were alerted at 3.15am to the pine forest blaze on MacKenzie Road.

A number of homes have been evacuated.

Sixteen crews, including a command team from Dunedin, are trying to bring the fire under control.

They are being assisted by eight helicopters with monsoon buckets.

Fire and Emergency says the blaze is being fanned by strong winds.

Speaking to media this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there had been property damage and homes lost in the Lake Ohau fire.

"It's devastating for the community," she said.

She said Civil Defence and Fire and Emergency were on the ground doing "everything they can" to support the community.

The Waitaki Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) controller Peter Muldrew said it was supporting those impacted by the fire.

"There are currently 112 registration of people with the welfare centre operating from the Twizel Events Centre. The Waitaki EOC is co-ordinating welfare support. This support includes providing people with clothing, food, information, accommodation and basic toiletries for tonight.

Muldrew said the Waitaki EOC was working together with multi agencies to support those affected. He thanked the community for their offers of accommodation and support.

Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare earlier said 20 properties had been affected and evacuated. "Approximately 90 people have registered at the local Civil Defence centre."

Lake Ohau village burns this morning. A massive queue of traffic can also be seen in the foreground waiting to evacuate. Photo / Nikki Adams

He said Fire and Emergency was "working hard" but were calling for more resources, given the fact that over the next few days high winds were expected.

"It's a wait and see but I expect that there will be boots on the ground within the next 24 hours."

He said the cause of the fire was still unknown.

At the moment, the priority of fire crews was containment.

Waitaki Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Controller Peter Muldrew said the fire was now moving in a southwest direction away from Lake Ohau village. Farm land may be affected and farmers were moving stock.

- with RNZ