Crews battle alpine blaze
A caravan is thought to have started the scrub fire which closed the Lewis Pass for three hours yesterday.
A wheel bearing off a caravan has caused a large scrub fire with
10-metre high flames that closed the Lewis Pass.
Firefighters were called to the scene in Poplars Range, about
50km west of Hanmer, about
3.10pm yesterday. The road is a key route linking Christchurch, Nelson and the West Coast.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman said the fire was under control within
90 minutes and the highway reopened to one lane about 6pm.
Fenz risk management officer Wayne Hamilton said the fire showed people needed to check their vehicles before travelling.
‘‘This acts as a reminder for everyone travelling through dry areas when towing vehicles – check the conditions of your wheels to help prevent this.’’
The scrub fire burned through vegetation up a steep hill side, the Fenz spokesman said. At its peak, the fire area was about 150 metres by 18m.
A witness said the fire turned from small to large within a minute.
Nicola Mulholland and her husband were travelling from Murchison to Christchurch with their caravan, when they saw a small patch of smoke on the side of the road.
‘‘It was a flash out of the corner of my eye,’’ she said.
They went to the engineers camp around the corner, but it had no firefighting gear.
‘‘We went back to the caravan and grabbed any water that we had. I was trying to hunt down our extinguisher, as it was very small.’’
But a minute later, they returned and found the side of the road engulfed in flames.
Mulholland left the scene soon after and travelled to a camping ground near Culverden.
She spoke to a man who said the wheel bearing had fallen off his caravan and thought this could have caused the fire.
There were moderate winds at the scene, she said.
A Fenz spokesman said firefighters would remain at the scene overnight to monitor the hot spots.