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At least 4,600 hectares of land were affected by the fire, which displaced more than 100 people from a village on the South Island.
Wildfires have destroyed dozens of homes in New Zealand, authorities said Monday, saying it was a miracle that no one was hurt when “an orange wall” descended on a remote South Island village.
The fire started in a mountain forest early Sunday morning and, fueled by strong winds, swept through the town of Lake Ohau, forcing residents to flee for their lives.
According to the New Zealand fire emergency agency on Monday, at least 4,600 hectares (11,366 acres) of land were affected by the fire, which also displaced more than 100 people.
“The strong winds meant that the fire could not yet be contained and the situation can change rapidly with any change in the wind,” Fire and Emergency New Zealand said.
Lake Ōhau #Fire #NEW ZEALAND: This @CopernicusEU The Sentinel 2B satellite image shows the burned area and fire front (s) at 11:37 am on Sunday, October 4 (NZDT). The dirty brown piece in the middle is burned. Bright orange is the hottest soil. Green is vegetation, cyan is snow (1/3) pic.twitter.com/Bo5DtwOr1L
– Todd Redpath (@toddrednz) October 5, 2020
“At this stage, we are confident that crews will have achieved 50 percent control of the fire perimeter by tomorrow night,” he added Monday.
The agency said up to 50 structures were destroyed and conditions remained “challenging,” with 11 helicopters and nine fire crews trying to contain the flames.
The damage assessment was still ongoing.
Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher said the small Lake Ohau community had been devastated.
“Of the 60 or 70 houses, we think the majority have left,” he told Radio New Zealand.
Authorities say most of the houses in the area were destroyed by the fire and it was a ‘minor miracle’ that no one was injured. [Courtesy of Gary Kircher via AFP Photo]
“The reality is that it is a minor miracle that no one was injured. If it had been another 15-20 minutes, it would have been a very different story. “
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