Wildfires demolish dozens of homes in New Zealand

On Monday authorities said that wildfires have razed dozens of homes in New Zealand, but it was a miracle no one was hurt when “a wall of orange” descended on a remote South Island village.

The blaze began in a mountain forest early Sunday morning and, blow by strong winds, wipe through the village of Lake Ohau, forcing residents to flee for their lives.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said, “The high winds meant the fire could not yet be contained and the situation may change rapidly with any shift in the wind."

It also said up to 50 structures were destroyed and conditions remained “challenging” on Monday, with 11 helicopters and nine fire crews attempting to contain the flames.

Waitaki District mayor Gary Kircher said the tiny Lake Ohau community had been devastated.

He told Radio New Zealand, “Of the 60 or 70 houses, we believe that the majority have gone."

“The reality is that it’s a minor miracle no one has been harmed. If it had been anther 15-20 minutes it would have been a very different story," he added.

Kircher described how residents awoke to find an inferno bearing down on them.

“I talked to a gentleman who got up to his dog (barking) in the early hours, opened his door and there was this wall of orange,” he said.

“He was the one that set off the town fire alarm and helped to wake people, there are certainly some scary tales about how close it came to being an absolute disaster with fatalities.”

Wildfires are relatively common on the South Island at this time of the year but the scale and intensity of the Ohau fire have been unusual.