1500, Wednesday 11 January 2017 - Update #7

The road to Glenorchy is now open - motorists are asked to proceed with caution and and allow extra time for their journey.

The fire at Rat Point looks to be largely under control, with firefighting work continuing for the remainder of the day.

Investigations into what caused the blaze will begin tomorrow, however at this stage it is too early to say how it started. The Otago Rural Fire Authority would like to hear from anyone with any information that may help the investigation. ORFA’s number is 0800 673 473

About 150ha has been involved in the fire, mostly native scrub and trees on very steep terrain.

Power to Glenorchy is still out. Delta engineers are assessing the power lines to establish how long it may take to get the power back on.

The forecast for strong winds tonight has eased with gusts now expected to be 70km/h at the highest, down from 90km/h that were predicted earlier. 10-20ml of rain is also expected between 8pm and midnight, which will help the firefighting efforts.

Eight helicopters and about 50 ground crew have been deployed, from all over Otago. This is being reduced to four aircraft this afternoon who will work in tandem with ground crews.

Fire crews are being rotated as the operation is expected to last for three to five days. This was because of the difficulty of fully extinguishing fire in the native vegetation on steep slopes.

At this stage the fire is about 2.5km away from the nearest homes, at Bob’s Cove and Closeburn Station. Police had been on standby to begin doorknocking early this morning if evacuations had been likely, but that had not been necessary.

The fire danger in Queenstown Lakes District is high and Incident Controller Phil Marsh – the Principal Rural Fire Officer for Otago – said that today’s fire was a sharp reminder of why fires in the open air were currently banned.

ENDS