Click on the video tab above to watch an incredible video of the fire.
Dozens of homes near Wanaka were evacuated as a spectacular fire tore through nearby scrub early on Thursday.
Residents
of the Mt Iron suburb, east of the town, scrambled with garden hoses to
protect their properties but in the end none were damaged.
Resident Tim Pierce told NZ Newswire he was woken by smoke from the fire and went to investigate houses closer to the fire.
He believed the fire came within metres of some houses.
"It turned out to be a pretty crazy morning ... people got off pretty lucky."
Fire
Service southern communications shift manager Riwai Grace said police
and firefighters evacuated seven properties and a number of others
self-evacuated.
The fire started about 4am and burned for more
than three hours before firefighters from around the district got it
under control. It burned about 600sq m of scrub and came within 20m of
one property.
"We were getting calls from two or three miles away, it was probably pretty impressive," Mr Grace said.
Fire safety officers are investigating the cause of the fire.
NZN