The fire north of Christchurch ripped through grass, beach tussock and pine trees.
Firefighters and chopper pilots pulled off some spectacular saves as raging blazes at opposites end of Christchurch came within metres of houses. Authorities remain on high alert as temperatures are expected to soar into the mid-30s Celsius on Tuesday with gusty northwesterlies about midday also forecast. Christchurch reached 28.7 degrees Celsius by 2.30pm on Monday. Emergency services were stretched on Monday as a 20ha scrub fire caused five homes in Pines Beach, north of Christchurch, to be evacuated and another vegetation fire rushed up a gully to threaten houses in Redcliffs on the Port Hills.