Wānaka residents have described the "scary" moment a large vegetation fire broke out near homes last night, forcing 22 households to evacuate.
Fire crews were notified of the blaze in Albert Town at 7.30 last night, with crews from Wānaka, Luggate, Lake Hawea and Cromwell responding.
The fire broke out behind residential houses on Lagoon Ave, Hunt Pl and McLellan Pl, running through around a kilometre of trees and scrub.
Wānaka residents shocked as huge fire tears through Albert Town - Watch on TVNZ+
In an update this morning, fire officials said the fire was out and contained, with residents returning to their homes shortly after 10pm last night.
The cause of the blaze was still unknown.
Local resident Max Messenger told 1News he heard a knock on his door at around 7.30 last night.
"It was an unknown voice, and she said, there's a huge fire along the bank. You need to evacuate now," he said.
"It was pretty scary. We're a bit jaded today."
Northlake resident April Coutts said she could see the "huge" blaze from her house.
"We just jumped straight in the truck to investigate and see if people were okay, if they needed help," she said.
"It was insane. It was just crazy."
Assistant district commander Nic McQuillan said yesterday the Albert Town blaze was contained by eight pumping appliances and three support vehicles.
"However, conditions are very windy, and firefighters are still dealing with hotspots, flare-ups and ember transfers," he said in an update late last night.
"No houses have caught fire, although initially it was thought seven to eight properties were threatened, and police evacuated 22 homes."
Crews left the scene just before 11pm.
Footage and images from the scene showed flames leaping well above the treeline, with the sky glowing a deep orange as the fire ripped through vegetation.
One resident described embers flying down their street, with residents hosing down gardens nearby.
McQuillan earlier told RNZ crews were still trying to dampen down the fire and needed to constantly reposition, as their hoses were not long enough to reach each hot spot.
"We can contain the fire, but we are having to reposition to reach each spot. We are hoping this wind will start to die down soon."
Police said they were notified at 7.30pm and were at the scene carrying out evacuations and controlling traffic. McQuillan said FENZ was working with police and Civil Defence.
Queenstown Lakes District Council urged residents to follow the advice of emergency services. "Stay safe everyone," they said in a statement posted to Facebook.
SHARE ME