Car fire halts traffic to ski field
A flaming car on the access road to Mt Hutt delayed traffic heading to the ski field yesterday.
The car caught fire about 9am and quickly engulfed the whole vehicle, snowboarder Matt Porter said.
He was about halfway up the road when a car a few vehicles ahead ‘‘burst into flames’’.
‘‘The people in there jumped out pretty quick but they still had time to grab some gear out of the back before it really got going.’’
Motorists waited on the side of the road for about an hour as firefighters battled the blaze, he said.
‘‘There were about 100 cars backed up so some people were getting pretty irritated – it’s put us about an hour behind but it’s alright, it’s a beautiful day up here above the clouds.’’
Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman Riwai Grace said a crew from Methven station arrived at 9.30am.
The fire took about 25 minutes to extinguish.
The cause of the blaze was unknown, he said.
‘‘[It] looks unlucky.’’
Police organised a tow truck to move the vehicle and cars were moving again by 10.15am. like they were just