Firefighters battle as fire claims home

Buchan Design Buchan Design David Diehl

ALIGHT: A helicopter battles an out-of-control grass fire that claimed one house and forced the evacuation of others in the Central Otago town of Roxburgh, near Alexandra.

APPROACHING FLAMES: A view of the out-of-control grass fire that claimed one house and forced the evacuation of others in the Central Otago town of Roxburgh, near Alexandra.

HILLS ALIVE WITH FLAMES: A view of the grass fire that claimed one house and forced the evacuation of others in the Central Otago town of Roxburgh, near Alexandra.

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Firefighters and helicopters have battled an out-of-control grass fire that claimed one house and forced the evacuation of others in the Central Otago town of Roxburgh, near Alexandra.

A fire communications spokesman said emergency services were called to the scene at 41 Branxholm St in the hills behind the town at 8pm.

Five fire trucks from Roxburgh, Alexandra, Heriot and Millers Flat were helping three helicopters from the rural fire service at 10pm, the spokesman said.

By midnight, the fire service said the threat to houses had passed, Radio New Zealand reported, with rain helped to dampen flames.

Police confirmed they had evacuated houses in the town, as 80kmh winds fanned the flames.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Goldfields Hotel publican John Lane said he knew of one house which had fallen to the blaze and believed there was a second. He described the blaze as spectacular.

"It's pretty scary stuff. We were quite worried the wind would blow it across the town."

MetService forecaster Paul Mallinson said Central Otago had temperatures in the mid-20s and humidity of 8 to 15 per cent yesterday.

"They are very high-risk fire problem numbers," he said.

The National Rural Fire Authority issued an "extreme" fire danger level for Central Otago yesterday.

- © Fairfax NZ News