Fire and Emergency New Zealand had two crews monitoring the remains of a large fire involving hay bales in Winslow, Ashburton last night.

The fire began late on Wednesday night, and destroyed two haysheds containing between 12,000 and 14,000 bales of hay, before being brought under control around midday yesterday.

Incident Controller Don Geddes says three fire crews are working with contractors today to continue dampening down the burning hay before burying the residue.

"We have one fire truck, two tankers, and 14 people from Fire and Emergency, and seven contractor staff with a bulldozer, three diggers, a water tanker, and two dump trucks working on the fire," he says.

"We’ll be digging pits to bury the residue, which will be wetted down and eventually capped with shingle two metres deep to make it safe.

"It’s a huge job, so we’re expecting to be working on this 24/7 until the end of the weekend."

Fire investigators are on site today but, as some of the hay is still burning, the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Don Geddes says smoke from the fire is likely to drift from a northwest direction from the site today, and people in the area should keep doors and windows shut if they need to.

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