Invercargill fire still smouldering

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

--

A fire at a wood chip mill near Invercargill continues to burn and could take several days to fully extinguish.

Principal Rural Fire Officer Elton Smith says a wind shift late this afternoon caused the fire to flare and jump into a pile of logs.

"These logs and large mounds of wood chips are proving difficult to fully extinguish," he says.

The fire broke out around 3pm and was initially contained by around 5pm, however following a significant wind shift and increase in wind speed, a number of spot fires occurred resulting in further fire spread.

"Three diggers have been deployed to open up the stack so that the helicopters equipped with heli-buckets can reduce the fire intensity. Along with the five helicopters involved in the operation several ground crews and tankers have been assisting."

Crews will continue to work through the night and monitor the situation, though the helicopter operations have been suspended for the evening.

Earlier, the Bluff Invercargill Highway was closed because of the heavy smoke crossing the road.

This has recently reopened.

The rail link was also interrupted for a short time.

A nearby fertilizer plant was evacuated because of smoke and embers being blown across the road, but it has sustained no damage and is no longer in danger.

The fire site will continue to be monitored by Fire and Emergency personnel over the coming days to ensure the fire does not break containment.

ENDS

© Scoop Media