Walter Peak fire spreads to 1400ha - 'not yet controlled or contained'

Firefighters have secured about 20% of the perimeter of a large vegetation fire as it burned through 1400ha on the southern shores of Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown. The blaze <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/10/06/fire-grows-to-390ha-at-queenstowns-walter-peak/">broke out near Walter Peak Station</a> yesterday afternoon, cloaking the 1800m summit in smoke that has drifted across the lake towards Queenstown. In an update just before 7pm this evening, Fire and Emergency NZ district commander Blair Kiely said the fire was "estimated to have burnt 1400 hectares of mainly tussock and scrub, with areas of trees". "It is not yet controlled or contained, with the situation still dynamic." Kiely said the blaze had spread from Walker Peak Station along the McKinlays Creek area and had also affected parts of adjoining conservation estate and Cecil Peak Station. "No homes or buildings have been damaged, and there are no structures or livestock assessed as being at immediate risk."