Worker could be liable for $200k bill

By CASSANDRA POKONEY and MARK HOTTON - Southland

A spraying contractor doing restoration work on Department of Conservation land could be liable for a $200,000 firefighting bill after a huge scrub fire near Tiwai at the weekend.

About 930 hectares of Department of Conservation land were destroyed in the fire, which started about 4pm on Friday.

Four helicopters with monsoon buckets and about 40 people on the ground worked to contain the fire on Friday night and Saturday. The fire is believed to have been accidentally started by a contractor doing restoration work.

Southern Rural Fire deputy principal rural fire officer Elton Smith said four ground crews were still on site yesterday afternoon, walking the fire perimeter and watching for hotspots, but it was unlikely there would be further problems.

"Looking at the conditions as they are at the moment, and the conditions on the ground, I am fairly certain that ... we are not going have any flareups from this fire," Mr Smith said.

The cause of the fire was being investigated by Southern Rural Fire investigation officers but it was known that it had started near a spraying contractor's tractor, he said.

"The exact cause of the fire is being investigated (but) we do know that the fire started in the vicinity of the spraying contractor's tractor. At this stage, what has actually caused the ignition has not been determined," Mr Smith said.

It was not known how long that investigation would take, he said.

The firefighting bill was likely to be between $100,000 and $200,000, he said. "It's absolutely going to be greater than $100,000."

Southern Rural Fire District rural fire officer Sue Peterson the fire was contained on a pea-gravel base and had not spread into peat deposits in the area.

It had spread quickly through dry manuka, tussock and green flax but light winds meant it was easily tackled. Important wetlands to the east were not affected.

The contractor was likely to be liable for the firefighting bill, she said.

The fire was well away from the Tiwai access road and the pylons that supply power to the aluminum smelter, although four of the six bores that provide water to it were out of action.

New Zealand Aluminium Smelters acting general manager Jason Franklin said they had more than four days of water stored on the site and two pumps were sufficient to keep supply up so they would not face any water shortages.

Department of Conservation Murihiku area manager Dave Taylor said the fire was a tragedy because the land was being restored to a natural condition by NZAS, which leased the land.

NZAS had been carrying out pest control and regeneration work, and the fire would set back that effort, Mr Taylor said.

"When the whole place goes up it affects seed supply so regeneration will be much slower. It will bounce back but we'll potentially get more weeds and gorse.

"It'll be an extra job to keep on top of those weeds."

The fire was on a long spit east of Tiwai Point but burned away from the smelter.

It created a bright orange glow in the southern sky on Friday night, attracting dozens of spectators, with the flames reflecting off clouds and its smoke creating a fake sunset.

Invercargill resident Layton Findlater said he and his wife were heading to the video store when they noticed the orange glow in the sky.

"We looked down the street and all we could see is this orange glow," he said.

Heading towards Tiwai for a closer look, Mr Findlater said he had been surprised at the "immense" size of the fire front.

"It was just incredible, truly remarkable."

"As far as you could see, it was just on fire," he said.

The road to Tiwai had been filled with people watching the fire, he said.