FENZ/Supplied
Two tree stumps burn next to the chimney from the historic Welcome Home Hotel also known as the Long Gully Pub. The chimney is all that is left from the historical site off Skippers Rd – gone before the fire, which started on Thursday.
Three helicopters and four ground crews continue to battle a large wildfire near Queenstown that has been burning for more than 17 hours.
The fire at Coronet Peak around the Skippers Rd was reported to emergency services about 6.15pm on Thursday.
The fire is burning in about six hectares of retired high country farmland, which includes a large area of dead wilding pine trees and is near popular mountain bike trails.
Incident controller Mark Mawhinney said the fire was not yet under control as of 8.30am on Friday.
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“We are using helicopters to knock down the active fire while conditions are in our favour this morning, and ground crews will be working to secure the perimeter along the Skippers Rd and extinguish hotspots.”
Helicopters are firebombing the scene – dropping water or chemicals out of monsoon buckets – to either suppress fire or make it unburnable, he said.
A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said it would likely take hours to stamp out.
“Helicopters do an incredible amount of work knocking down the fire, but it takes the ground crew to fully extinguish it,” the spokesperson said.
FENZ
Pine plantation is among six hectares of land burnt in a large wildfire near Queenstown and the cause is still to be determined.
“They will be working very hard [on Friday] and will be there for a considerable amount of time.”
A 10-day mountainbike festival starts in Queenstown on Friday and Fire and Emergency warned bikers to stay off several trails which would lead them close to the fire.
Those close to, or affected by, the fire include the Skippers Pack Track, the Coronet Loop below Greengate Saddle, the Pack Track and Sack Trail, and Atleys Terrace Track.
Drone flyers were also told to avoid the area because they were a hazard to helicopters.
A specialist wildfire investigator would determine the cause of the fire. The full scale of damage had yet to be determined.
Skippers Rd remained closed.
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