Firefighters continued to work on several flare-ups at the fire in West Melton overnight, but said none breached containment lines.
Fire and Emergency NZ Incident Commander Dave Key said crews remained at both West Melton and the Courtney Rd fire near Kirwee overnight.
He said some flare-ups occurred when the wind fanned partially burned vegetation and trees into flame.
“This was expected and planned for and our crews did excellent work ensuring the flare-ups did not breach the containment lines,” he said.
Key confirmed 75 personnel were working on the two fires — which are about 3km apart — supported by the same Incident Management Team.
“Two helicopters and three heavy machinery operators are supporting the work of extinguishing hotspots. Most of the firefighters are from Canterbury, with two crews from South Canterbury assisting.”
At Bridge Hill, crews would continue to extinguish hotspots around the perimeter of the fireground.
Incident Commander Richard Griffiths said last night’s drone flights identified several areas for crews to work on today, “some of them on steep terrain”.
Three crews supported by a digger and a water tanker would be at Bridge Hill today.
