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Simon O’Connor / Stuff
Six crews have been called in to help deal with a fire between Culverden and Hamner Springs, on the side of State Highway 7.
Two fire crews will spend the night at the scene of a highway fire that closed State Highway 7 in North Canterbury for about three hours.
Efforts to fight the fire near Marble Point, which started Thursday afternoon, were initially hampered by strong winds. Wind warnings were in effect for Canterbury for much of Thursday, with gusts reaching 83km / h at Christchurch airport.
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The fire did not threaten any property and initially burned in the hills, said Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman Andrew Norris.
Twelve teams were on fire at its peak, around 6.30pm, but it had since gone out. Two crews would spend the night to monitor critical points.
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It is not clear how big the fire was or how it started.
Supplied
Police and fire crews were in the Culverden area and SH7 was initially closed.
Winds in the surrounding area had been forecast to reach 110 km / h, MetService forecast Gerard Bellam said.
Some light rain fell in the area in the early afternoon, and heavier rains and cooler temperatures would follow overnight as a southern front advanced into the region.
Bellam said he expected the southern front to bring “a decent amount of rain.”
State Highway 7 was closed between Culverden and the turnoff to Hamner Springs as the fire raged, but it reopened in one lane around 8 p.m.
Supplied
This photo was taken near the scene of the fire in North Canterbury.
Culverden is about 100 miles north of Christchurch.
Four teams from Fenz were also called into a small fire on Happy Valley Rd, near Motunau Beach, Thursday night.
Motunau, located on the east coast of the South Island, is about 70 km north of Christchurch.
A Fenz spokesperson said the fire was burning in a 30-hectare plantation and 11 crews were there at its peak.
A crew would stay overnight to monitor the fire.
Destroyed caravan in Dunedin
The strong winds prompted police to remind motorists to be careful when towing high-sided vehicles.
A police spokeswoman said a car and caravan had left Mouse Point Rd, near Culverden, due to high winds Thursday night.
On Wednesday afternoon, a caravan was shot down along State Highway 1, just north of the town of Waikouaiti in Otago, and wrecked it.
Acting Sergeant Major Anthony Bond said the wind was so strong that police could not immediately remove debris from the road. The cleaning took place when the wind died down.
Police urged motorists, particularly those driving high-sided vehicles, to be cautious and drive under conditions, he said.
Supplied
A caravan was destroyed by strong winds north of Dunedin.
Winds also blew the roof off a fire-damaged building on Hillside Rd in Dunedin on Wednesday.
The road was closed while debris remained strewn across the area.
Bond said firefighters secured the remains of the roof, and a civil engineer later inspected the building and declared it safe.
“Police would like to remind people with trampolines and other possible flying objects to make sure they are secured to the ground, so they don’t turn into UFOs,” Bond said.
Winds reach 83 km / h in Christchurch
MetService issued multiple weather alerts for high winds for Christchurch and snow forecast for North Canterbury.
Temperatures reached 20 degrees Celsius in the city on Thursday morning and winds from the northwest reached 83 km / h at Christchurch International Airport in the afternoon.
MetService
Windy weather is on the way, according to MetService’s national forecast video for Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020.
A MetService spokesperson said wind watch was in place in Christchurch and Canterbury Plains until 7 p.m.
“There is also a strong wind warning inland, so the wind is much stronger as you move towards the Southern Alps.”
He said the warning criteria was for wind speeds above 110km / h.
A Fenz spokesman said they received reports of downed branches and vegetation fires in St Andrews and Fairlie, which had been spread by the winds.
A heavy snow watch was established for inland Canterbury, north of Castle Hill and the Kaikōura Ranges, from 11 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday.
Snow is forecast starting at 300 m, with heavier snow above 500 m.
