120 hectare controlled burn dominates Queenstown skyline

Fire and Emergency staff admit that a huge plume of smoke north of Queenstown "is quite impressive" but say the blaze is part of a controlled burn in the Roaring Meg area behind the Kawarau Gorge.

At 4.00 pm this afternoon (September 2) smoke could be seen from Queenstown dominating the skyline to the north east.

FENZ say that the 120 hectare controlled burn should be out tonight and that they have specialist staff on site to make sure things stay safe.

A spokesperson told Crux this afternoon that there were no fire appliances or other resources at the scene and everything was going to plan.

In recent years similar controlled burns have got out of control in the Southern Lakes area resulting in large scale helicopter fire fighting operations.

FENZ staff said that the controlled operation was started yesterday (Sep 1) and had burned through the night. 

FENZ did not know if the burn was on private or DOC land.