Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) plans to lift the daily partial closures for Mount Iron Reserve from Sunday 14 January at 6.00am.

The fire indices which indicate levels to trigger a closure, as outlined in QLDC’s Wildfire Reserve Closure and Activity Management Procedures, are forecast to drop and will allow for safe access to the reserve.

QLDC General Manager Community Services, Ken Bailey thanked local residents and visitors for their cooperation during the part day closures implemented over the past three days.

“We will continue to monitor weather conditions closely over the summer period and future closures may be needed if fire indices show an extreme risk of wildfires for reserves in the district. Whilst ensuring reserves are accessible for everyone to enjoy, we need to take appropriate steps to manage them to reduce the potential for a fire to happen. When wildfire conditions are assessed to be ‘extreme’ it is vital to properly manage any potential risk to life and community safety,” said Mr Bailey.

Residents and visitors are encouraged to sign up for alerts if they haven’t already by heading to www.qldc.govt.nz/text-alerts and selecting either Queenstown or Wānaka as the location for reserve closures. Other locations can be added for Council updates too.

More information about the reserve closure process can be found at www.qldc.govt.nz/managing-wildfire-risk.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the district is subject to a total fire ban. This includes the use of fireworks. To check the latest fire season status, head to https://checkitsalright.nz/.

If you see smoke or fire, please call 111 immediately.

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