Port Hills fire: What you need to know
- Battle to contain Port Hills fire enters its third day.
- The fire is about '70 per cent contained' and is going to be a "long-duration event" which could take weeks to completely put out.
- 23 fire crews worked through the night and the first helicopters were back in the air around 6:20am.
- One dwelling appears to have been destroyed in the fire.
- The wind has changed to a southerly overnight so smoke from the fire is more noticeable across most of Christchurch City.
- Fire crews say this was expected this to happen and it does not mean a significant change in the condition of the fire.
- The location of some cordons have been shifted to allow a number of evacuated residents to move back home to areas where it has been assessed as safe.
- Civil Defence said while the smoke may look like it is "diminishing" there was no room for complacency: "Please don't think it's over".
- How did the Port Hills fire start? An investigation into the cause of the fire has begun, and Fire and Emergency has asked the public to get in contact with any photos or videos of the Port Hills taken between 1.45pm and 2.45pm yesterday.
- Here's where to get help and what you need to know about the Port Hills fire.
- Port Hills fire explained: The bigger climate picture behind the fire.
Worsley Rd resident Anna Spark spoke to the Herald about her devastating ordeal.
Spark was at work as a security guard on Wednesday in New Brighton when her mother called to say there was a fire on the hills and that it “doesn’t look good”.
“I just headed across town as fast as I possibly could,” she said.
“I literally made it in the nick of time to be able to go down and rescue my three dogs, my goat, my cat and open up the alpaca paddock so that they would have a chance because the flames were encroaching the bottom of their paddock, they were coming onto our property and I was very close to it all.
“I just had to get my animals out.”
“I was just like ‘far out ... I’ve got to boost, get out of here’.”
After a sleepless night, she returned on Thursday to check on the alpacas.
“As we drove down I was in the animal management car and I said ‘oh my container’s gone ...’ they asked ‘where’s that?’ and I just pointed down the hill beyond a vehicle and I said ‘that’s my container’, the whole thing was gone.”
Spark had been living in the container for about four years, first moving in to help her grandmother before she died two years ago.
“32-inch TV, Xbox, bed all my life-long furniture, everything that’s valuable to me - journals, books. My dad lost his computer set-up in my room - he lost his writing. He’s been a writer and he backed everything up and left it on the desk.
“It’s our whole life. Fortunately, my dad has a room that hasn’t been touched up the hill as far as we know, so all his personal belongings he has still … but everything of my personal belongings has gone. Just what I have in my car is what I have.”
“I’m still a bit in shock. A bit of panic, I’m without a home right now but I kind of trust people are going to help me, I’ve got my family around me. I’m not going to be homeless.”
She wanted to thank all the authorities for their help. She said she hoped to one day be back living on the hills.
“I’m going to look to secure a house in town for now and I hope to go back to the hill one day and maybe build a tiny house, that’s really my dream.
“But for now it’s just dealing with all of this and getting back on your feet.”
If you want to help Spark, a Givealittle page has been set up by her friend. Funds will be used to assist Spark “until she can find her feet” to purchase replacement clothing and toiletries, and to cover general daily costs including accommodation.
