{"id":641941,"date":"2026-10-26T16:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/641941\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:24:13","slug":"evacuations-in-otago-township-firefighters-battle-several-blazes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/641941\/","title":{"rendered":"Evacuations in Otago township, firefighters battle several blazes"},"content":{"rendered":"

A scrub fire that forced evacuations in the central Otago town of Roxburgh is still uncontained, with crews battling the blaze into the night.<\/p>\n

Evacuations began Monday evening. Hundreds of homes are without power in the area, with at least seven fire crews at work fighting the blaze.<\/p>\n

It was thought the fire started in trees about 2.45pm Monday, with strong winds adding to the problem.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) said crews were working to protect residential buildings and to contain the fire.<\/p>\n

Strong winds initially grounded efforts to fight the fire from the air, but conditions eased by about 6.30pm, allowing a helicopter to assist efforts until dark, FENZ said.<\/p>\n

Homes were evacuated on Ladysmith Road, east of Roxburgh township, by police and FENZ working together, and residents from six houses remained evacuated by 9pm Monday.<\/p>\n

Power had been disconnected earlier for more than 220 Roxburgh homes as a safety precaution, the Aurora Energy website said. But the number in the dark was listed as more than 30 homes by Monday night.<\/p>\n

Firefighters were also battling large blazes in Southland<\/a> and near the Desert Road<\/a> on Monday night, with much of the South Island and some of the lower North Island affected by rough weather which was moving up the country, prompting a raft of warnings or watches from MetService.<\/p>\n

Central Otago’s orange level wind warning was lifted about 9pm Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Ladysmith<\/p>\n

Homes were evacuated on Ladysmith Road, east of Roxburgh township.<\/p>\n

Screenshot \/ Google Maps<\/p>\n

Winds fanning Otago fires, FENZ says<\/p>\n

Otago firefighters had been battling several vegetation fires on Monday, with the wind making the situation worse.<\/p>\n

All of the fires had escalated quickly, FENZ District Commander Blair Kiely.<\/p>\n

“Strong winds and warm temperatures mean that fires spread quickly and are much more difficult for our firefighters to contain and bring under control.<\/p>\n

“The winds were so strong today that in most places we were not able to use aircraft.”<\/p>\n

He thanked everyone who had pitched in to help on the holiday: “I would like to thank every firefighter who has responded to the fires across Otago today, and all those who have been in support roles.<\/p>\n

“Giving up their Labour Day holiday to fight fires was a selfless act to support our communities.”<\/p>\n

Crucial to prepare for El Ni\u00f1o, FENZ says<\/p>\n

Most wildfires in New Zealand are caused by people, Kiely said. And with a dry El Ni\u00f1o season expected to peak during the New Zealand summer<\/a>, these fires are a reminder of just how necessary preparation and care are.<\/p>\n

Explainer: What is El Ni\u00f1o and how it might impact New Zealand’s weather<\/a><\/p>\n

“Fire and Emergency New Zealand is asking everyone to take extra care with fire outdoors as the region heads into what is expected to be a challenging wildfire season,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Everyone can help by taking extra care with fire and getting prepared now, before conditions get any drier.”<\/p>\n

Anyone considering lighting a fire outside should check weather forecasts and visit www.checkitsalright.nz, Kiely said, and follow the fire season status advice for their area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A scrub fire that forced evacuations in the central Otago town of Roxburgh is still uncontained, with crews…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-641941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}