Suspicious fire causes campsite evacuation in Spring Creek, Marlborough

Firefighters have spent hours mopping up after “quite a sizeable” fire whipped through scrub near Blenheim, causing a nearby campsite to be evacuated.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) responded to reports of the fire just after midnight on Thursday, at the Wairau Bar in Spring Creek, and initially sent two crews from Rarangi to the scene.

Shortly afterwards, the fire was upgraded to a second alarm due to the strong wind, and the size of the fire, shift manager Simon Lyford said.

More crews from Blenheim and other rural stations were called to attend.

Firefighters worked to contain and extinguish “quite a sizeable fire” in bush and gorse, measuring about 400m by 100m, Lyford said.

As the fire was close to a camping ground, crews worked to ensure everybody at the site was evacuated and safe.

By 2am the fire was deemed to be suspicious and firefighters alerted police, Lyford said.

Four crews remained at the scene through the morning, cleaning up and dealing with hotspots.

A police spokesperson said police were also at the scene on Thursday morning and inquiries to determine the cause were ongoing.

A police officer at the scene said it seemed the fire had been deliberately lit.

Fire and Emergency assistant commander Chris Hayles said high winds and dry conditions had had “quite a bit of an impact” on the fire that swept through about a hectare of gorse, ice plants and native bush.

“We had a fair amount of wind that was coming from the north so once it got round the corner, it definitely pushed the fire along.

“(The wind) makes the mop up a little bit more difficult, because we can’t have people downwind of it, because they risk getting over-run by the fire,” Hayles said.

Hayles said with more warm, dry, windy weather expected in Marlborough throughout summer due to the El Niño weather system arriving, the region’s fire brigades could expect a “potentially difficult summer”.

“What we’re noticing on the whole is the dryness of the area, it is a lot drier than what it has been in the past few years. We’re expecting a very dry summer.”

Because of this, Hayles encouraged people to take extra care when carrying out burnoffs, lighting fires and barbecuing in the dry, windy conditions.

“One ember is all it takes – everything starts from something that small,” he said.