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Helicopters with monsoon buckets are racing back to battle a massive fire that has razed more than 700 hectares of pine forest near Dunedin since Tuesday.
Ten helicopters were in action yesterday trying to slow the spread of the fire through the large plantation 30km west of Dunedin.
There are plans for a fixed wing plane to be sent out today to drop chemical retardant.
Yesterday two more houses were evacuated, bringing the total number to five. Their eight residents had to stay away last night and firefighters are hoping for a wind change to lower the risk to the houses.
Dunedin residents awoke to a thick blanket of smoke yesterday morning that covered the city until mid-afternoon.
Civil Defence and Rural Fire manager Neil Brown said it was one of the largest fires of its type in the region.
The fire is being fanned by northwesterly and northeasterly winds that have been predicted to continue for the next few days.
Aerial firefighters could only slow the spread of the fire until conditions improved enough to make serious headway.
The steep terrain and the ability of the flames to jump several hundred metres at a time make things difficult for ground crew.
More than half of the fire area was made up of pine trees and the remainder was even more flammable dry, post-harvest debris that provided ideal fuel.
Helicopter after helicopter was working to scoop water from the nearby Taieri River in 1200-litre monsoon buckets in an effort to contain the spread of the flames and prevent any flare-ups.
Gary Still, a veteran of the 2006 Australian bushfires, said it was the worst Dunedin fire he had seen and it just took the right conditions for it to happen. "Today we have those right conditions, or the wrong conditions, depending on how you look at it.
"It is somewhat of a waiting game at the moment but when you see flare-ups happening it can get a bit dispiriting."
Mr Still took time from his silviculture business to help battle the blaze, despite having only a few hours'sleep.
Stiffening northeasterly winds sent smoke billowing over Dunedin and the Taieri Plain last night.
Bulldozers were working to clear a 30m-wide firebreak on the eastern side of the fire, and coupled with a fire retardant chemical spray from a fixed-wing aircraft, aim to halt the fire's progress eastwards and towards populated areas.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES AND NZPA
