Wānaka Police say they know what caused the fire which started at Emerald Bay on Sunday (January 9) and asked people to be careful when cooking outdoors.

Writing in today’s (Tuesday January 11) Crimeline, senior constable Bruce McLean said: “We know the cause of the fire. Make sure you are careful cooking and use no naked flames or smoking in the outdoors where the ground is tinder dry.”

“A fire doesn’t take much to start and gets out of control very quickly,” he said.

The fire started on Department of Conservation land (DOC) near the lake at Emerald Bay and spread up the hill and across the road onto more DOC land and part of Glendhu Station.

The area was dry with a lot of flammable material, and a northerly wind was blowing at the time.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has confirmed this morning (Tuesday January 11) that the fire is now contained.

FENZ incident controller Jason Sarich said firefighters will return to the site today to focus on dampening down hotspots identified by thermal imaging early this morning. 

The fire affected the hills around Hospital Flat

The fire remains at 280ha and within a 7.1km perimeter.

There will be four crews working on the fireground – two Fire and Emergency crews (Glenorchy and Dunstan) and two from DOC. 

They will be working in earnest to address the hotspots ahead of the hottest part of the day when fires could flare up Jason said.

All hotspots identified are within the perimeter of the containment area.

Jason said the weather conditions will be challenging for the firefighters with hot temperatures, wind and low humidity.

The Wānaka-Mt Aspiring Road was closed while crews battled the fire but reopened this morning with a 30km/h speed limit in the affected area.

A fire investigator will also be on the scene today as part of the continued investigation.

PHOTOS: FENZ/Supplied