A fire broke out in Hanmer Springs around 1am this morning and burnt for about 20 hours. It burnt through grass, small bushes and tall trees over a 90ha (hectare) area. It spread quickly because of the high wind and very dry grass. Flames were 20m high. 8 helicopters were used to put out the fire because it was too dangerous for fire fighters to get near.
People from 20 houses were woken about 2am and told to leave their homes as the fire got closer but they were able to return later today. The road into Hanmer from Christchurch was closed until early afternoon. Nobody could leave and nobody could enter the town. There was no electricity for some time.
Hanmer Springs is a town 2 hours north west of Christchurch. It is a holiday town, famous for its hot water pools, forest walks and mountain bike tracks. It is a peaceful town with very clean air. There is a nearby mountain with a small ski field open in winter.
This has been a hot dry summer so people living in Canterbury and Marlborough need to be very careful with cigarettes and matches to avoid starting a fire.
Vocabulary
• a fire broke out – a fire started (idiom)
• Springs – hot water comes from thermal springs in the ground
• 1 hectare (ha) – 10,000 sq metres
• put out a fire – stop the fire (idiom)
• avoid – make sure something doesn’t happen
A useful structure
Too dangerous (for + noun) to + verb;
Use this structure when you can’t do something because of some conditions. Eg. too difficult / hard to do; too expensive (for me) to buy; too long to wait; too dark to see; too tired to think