The battle continues to contain the huge fire consuming the Port Hills area near Christchurch that has razed about a dozen houses and forced the evacuation of 1000 people from 450 homes.
The first fire began on Monday, along Early Valley Rd In Lansdowne, with a second blaze on Marley's Hill in a carpark off Summit Rd. The area affected is now 2075ha and growing.
A state of emergency in Christchurch and Selwyn was declared on Wednesday afternoon.
Working to contain the blaze are more than 130 firefighters on the ground, 40 crews with 45 pumps and tankers and 26 rural fire crews, 42 soldiers, six Defence Force firefighters, 14 helicopters and three planes.
There have been casualties: fire-fighting pilot Steve Askin died on Tuesday after his helicopter crashed. Two people have been treated at hospital after inhaling smoke - a firefighter and a nine-year-old boy with asthma - and a third man was seen after he injured an ankle trying to evacuate.
Offers of help from Australia's firefighters have been turned down for now.
The Canterbury District Health Board and the Asthma & Respiratory Foundation have issued warnings about smoke inhalation. Even those who are some distance from the fire may be at risk - from wind-borne ash particles and smoke.
This has come after nearly a dozen homes and two sheds have been razed while strengthening winds pose fresh concerns for firefighters tackling the massive Port Hills wildfire now burning fiercely on three fronts.
Hundreds of Christchurch residents have been evacuated from their homes with police warning many may still have to go at a moment's notice if the firestorm suddenly changes direction.
Civil Defence revised the number of properties destroyed, saying 11 houses and two sheds had been lost. Four homes were in Worsleys Rd, four in Hoon Hay Valley Rd, one house and one shed on Burkes Bush Rd, and two houses and one shed on Early Valley Rd.
Authorities were concerned a strong north-east wind of up to 45km/h would further fan the fire and drive the fronts into residential areas on Thursday. MetService forecaster Cameron Coutts said rain wasn't expected in the area until the weekend.
Police are this morning helped evacuate Cashmere Hills residents affected. Senior Sergeant Ash Tabb said people in the Dyers Pass Rd area of Cashmere Hills, from Kiteroa Pl to Pentre Tce, were among the latest to have been told to leave their properties immediately.
"In addition to the urgent evacuations, anyone who feels worried or unsafe staying in their home can go to one of the welfare centres for assistance."
Welfare centres are at Halswell Library in Halswell Rd and at the Nga Hau e Wha Marae in Pages Rd.
Anyone unable to evacuate by themselves should call 111.
"The priority is keeping people safe," Snr Sgt Tabb said. "We understand it's hard for people to leave their homes but the fire can change direction and move incredibly quickly. If you're worried, don't leave it too late - it's better to be safe than sorry."
PM visits fire area
Prime Minister Bill English dropped planned trips to Waikanae and Queenstown on Thursday and headed to Christchurch instead in the morning. He sidestepped questions about the failure of widespread emergency measures to be taken earlier.
Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has questioned the emergency response, saying he was "perplexed" over why a state of emergency was not declared earlier, and asked why rural fire agencies were leading the response.
However, Mr English said the focus now should be on putting out the fire.
"I haven't seen the arguments for and against it but the focus at the moment for Gerry and the firefighters is getting on top of that fire. It's getting more threatening to some parts of Christchurch and they've got a tough day ahead of them."
The Government response included mobilising the Defence Force. Mr English said the Fire Service and Civil Defence system was "totally focused" on protecting the people at risk of the fire and putting out the blaze.
He said no one could have anticipated the large-scale fire on the Port Hills.
Mr Brownlee has labelled the declaration of a civil emergency in Christchurch as "slow" and questioned whether enough resources were being thrown at the fire.
In an interview with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB this morning, Mr Brownlee said although he was "full of admiration" for those out in the field, he was worried that not enough was being done.
"It's not easy, it's tough work and dangerous work, so I fully support [firefighters], I just think that the structure that got us the state of the civil emergency appears to have been a little slow.
"We're going to have a cross-party meeting today because none of us were particularly happy with the results of Kaikoura. The people who did things were great but it's the structure that's the problem. Beyond that, expressing our concern, I can't say too much before we all sit down and have a look at it."
When questioned by Mr Hosking whether he was confident there were enough resources being thrown in to help fight the fire, Mr Brownlee wasn't sure.
"I do hope so. I'm not there but I will be there in about an hour's time and whatever is needed the Government will do. We have, through the military, considerable transport options but what does concern me a bit is that for a couple of days we've been told 'we've got all we need' and 'we don't need anymore resources' but we're not on top of it."
Mr Brownlee hoped it wouldn't be another disaster where, after the emergency ended, officials would be sitting back wishing they'd done more.
"I think we could all be in that situation and I don't want to make distant comments at this point, I just want to support those people who are in pretty dangerous circumstances on the ground and they deserve to have that support."
Helicopter wreckage recovered
The wreckage of a helicopter that crashed during firefighting operations on the hills behind Christchurch, killing pilot Steve Askin, has been recovered. The decorated war hero and father-of-two died on Tuesday.
Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigator Steve Walker said the recovery operation on Thursday afternoon was challenging.
"The wreckage was in a steep gully under the Sugarloaf and conditions were hot and windy, making it challenging for the ground crew loading the wreckage, and the investigators,'' he said.
The chopper was lifted out in five loads and placed on a truck for transport to a secure site in Christchurch from where it will be transported to TAIC's technical facility in Wellington for further analysis.
TAIC had planned to begin the airlift this morning, but had to wait for clearance to use the road which had been closed because of the threat from the bush fire.
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Comments
The problem is we in New Zealand don't have the gear to stop a real big bush fire like this...and that's why the fire keeps going. The only thing to hope for soon is a lot of rain.