At its height, 60 firefighters, a mix of fulltime and volunteers, worked to douse the blaze which forced evacuations from about 40 homes in Avoca Valley Rd, Port Hills Rd and Gliders Grove overnight.
The fire continues to burn on steep terrain early this afternoon.
Port Hills Rd remains closed, however all residents that were evacuated are now able to return to their homes, police said.
The fire started in the area of Alderson Ave, off the Port Hills Rd, close to the suburb of Hillsborough. Fire and Emergency crews were first contacted about 11.10pm.
One resident has blamed young people using fireworks for starting the blaze.
Area Commander for Fire and Emergency Dave Stackhouse said today that fire investigators were working with police and had identified some "good positive leads" and some "areas of interest."
"Our fire investigators eliminate all ignition sources, so fireworks is naturally one of them, but there are other sources we have to eliminate, that's how we come up with our cause and origin."
Stackhouse said loud bangs that some people heard about the time the fire broke out on Friday night were from two LPG cylinders that exploded in a shed /studio that was the only structure that was destroyed in the blaze.
The fire has burned through around 25 to 30 hectares and has been difficult to battle because of the rough terrain - a mix of steep gullies, heavy vegetation of pine trees, gorse, thick scrub and grasslands, he said.
"It's been a really good job and we've managed to protect all the structures along the Port Hills Road and the Avoca Valley. So I'm really happy - it's been a good effort."
Anyone who needs assistance should contact Fire and Emergency or police.
Fire and Emergency put out four fires in the area early on Wednesday morning. They were considered suspicious at the time, due to witnesses seeing people leaving the scene.
Police said inquiries into the circumstances of Friday's fire are continuing, however they do not believe there is any link to vegetation fires which occurred in the Port Hills on Wednesday.
A couple of southwest changes during the night increased the fire's intensity but the winds eased up about 4am on Saturday.
Crews would spend the day establish a safe contained fire zone and getting the rest of the residents back into their homes.
"Our priority is to keep it within the area we have currently contained it to. The weather is on our side, with only light winds forecast, this should help us in our work throughout today," Stackhouse said.
He expected fire crews to maintain a presence at the scene over the next day or so.
One owner spent a nervous night watching the fire get closer to his home.
Port Hills resident Kester Vos said he noticed flames about 11pm.
"Within a pretty short time afterwards the police were on the doorstep saying 'you've got two minutes, grab what you can and get out'.
"The first thing to do was get all the cars off the property and the dogs.
"Then it was pretty much, OK, we had to clear out of the area, so I've been standing here since 11 o'clock last night."
Vos said the fire may have been started by young people letting off fireworks.
One of New Zealand's most devastating fires spread across the Port Hills in 2017, killing a helicopter pilot, burning through 1600 hectares of land, gutting 11 homes and damaging more.
Witnesses were in court in August as Insurer IAG, lines company Orion and Christchurch Adventure Park debated who should pay for the damage.
The 2017 fires began in two separate locations several kilometres apart but merged, and prompted a review of the fire services in New Zealand, culminating in the formation of a national fire service - Fire and Emergency.
Efforts were made in the wake of those fires to plant 10 million trees in the area to reforest it.
