MARLBOROUGH’S WORST EVER FIRE,
BOXING DAY 2000, BURNT NEARLY 15,000 ACRES for over three days, killing thousands of stock and threatening the wine town of Blenheim, as well as a number of vineyards and wineries. Disaster was avoided by the brave residents, of what is now known as Fire Road, who battled the blaze by using buckets and hand-held hoses and the eventual assistance of a fortunate wind shift. Today, the Fire Road vineyards flourish in the same hot and dry climate that was once the catalyst for such a mighty blaze.
