About 80 homes were evacuated in Christchurch, another 30 in neighbouring Selwyn and one - a tiny house built out of a shipping container - was destroyed.
At its peak, more than 130 fire fighters from over 45 brigades battled the blaze, supported by 15 helicopters and two aircraft. The fire burnt about 470 hectares (ha) across the Port Hills over three weeks.
On Wednesday, Fire and Emergency released its operational review into the most recent fire, saying the 2017 and 2024 incidents were quite different, even though both of them were roughly in the same place.
FENZ said there was less fuel to burn last year, partly because McVicar's pine forestry block had largely burnt in 2017, leaving young trees, scrub and slash, and partly due to the removal of large areas of gorse.
Released in September last year, FENZ's investigation into how the fire started was unable to identify the cause, but found the combination of dry weather, low moisture content and a continuously available fuel supply - grasses, scrub and pines - helped the fire ignite and spread quickly.
Many residents expressed frustration that highly flammable pines had been replanted after the 2017 fire and urged councils to prevent a repeat, but a year later, there are few changes to policy and an ongoing standoff over land use.
The 319-hectare commercial pine plantation that was significantly damaged in 2017 fire and saw a swathe of about 60 hectares burned again last year likely won't be replanted with the same trees, with accompanying slash and skid sites.
Managing director John McVicar said the company had yet to finalise what would replace the burnt pines, but was considering different species, including radiata pine, Douglas fir, redwood and some native species, but natives were slow to grow, expensive and vulnerable in the Port Hill conditions.
"They also cost... at least a minimum of five times as much as, say, a pine tree and they have no real commercial value at the end of it, so these are all the things you have to weigh up."
Because of the time they take to grow, McVicar said natives wouldn't "provide the same value" for Adventure Park users, which has become "one of the greatest amenities the city has today, largely because it's forested".
He said the focus on the species of tree was misguided.
McVicar claims the 2017 fires were caused by arson and 2024 fire was likely the result of arson.
However, FENZ said of the 2017 fires one was suspicious and the cause of the other was undetermined - though also suspicious.
Both FENZ and police say there is no evidence of the 2024 fire being intentionally lit.
McVicar said it would not matter what species was planted - in the right conditions, a determined firebug could still set the hills alight.
"It doesn't matter what species we plant there - in the midsummer, with the dryness of the Port Hills, the right conditions of wind - if someone wants to light a fire, they'll all burn, whether it's a native species or some other."
McVicar said the company was conscious of the "perception" other species were preferable, but there were limited options that could be planted under the company's consent.
"You get pulled into a very narrow band of practical options for replanting."
He said there needed to be more effort around deterrence and accountability. His company was considering offering a reward for any information that led to the arrest of anyone involved in last year's fires, "as an extra deterrent".
"Radiata pine is not the big problem here, it's actually that we've got arsonists in our community and it's a serious crime.
"We've got loss of life in the first fire, houses lost, tremendous damage, lost time, and so our focus as a company and also within the community is to try and change these arson events, and put more effort into anti-arson measures, better signage and awareness of the seriousness of arson, more surveillance cameras, community watch groups."
No evidence of arson
District Commander Dave Stackhouse said investigators found no evidence of arson and FENZ supported low-flammability planting, but agreed with McVicar that "everything is a fuel type, everything burns".
"It's just a matter of the topography, and wind and weather conditions on the day. Obviously, if you've got pine plantations, you'll have to have good firebreaks and good evacuation plans."
He said firefighters needed to adapt to the changing climate, learning from past fires like the Port Hills and West Melton, and putting what works into play, so they can do better at the next fire.
Stackhouse welcomed the addition of further Attentis sensors, which were a valuable tool.
While there were sensors in the area where the 2024 fire started, Stackhouse said FENZ was alerted by passers-by, rather than by the sensors, but the system could provide useful real-time data for the fire-fighting operation.
FENZ's operational review said a swift and aggressive response helped control the fire relatively quickly.
The review emphasised lessons learnt from the 2017 fire, as well as ongoing work with the community, such as public meetings on risk mitigation, firebreak management and a trial of fire-resistant plants.
The review identified areas for improvement, including better resourcing air operation controllers, which quickly became overloaded, and setting up a full incident management team sooner.
It put the cost of fighting last year's fires at $3 million, compared to almost $7 million to fight the 2017 fire, one of the biggest and most severe in recent New Zealand history.
After the fires, Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger and Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton called for "a wider community conversation" about pine forestry blocks and whether forestry was an appropriate use of the land
Mauger, Broughton and regional council representatives wrote to Minister of Forestry Todd McClay after last year's fire, asking for changes to commercial forestry rules that the councils said left them unable to manage wildlife risk.
The letter also criticised rules that allowed pines to be replanted on a forestry block after the 2017 fire, but Minister McClay rebuffed the attempt.
Last year, councillor Sara Templeton expressed disappointment that the government had turned down efforts to get the rules changed.
She said councils still needed more flexibility to control land use, especially as the likelihood of sea level rise and fires increases, noting the slow pace of change on land use issues was "one of the most frustrating things" she had experienced as a councillor.
Considerable council resources over the past year were focused on the housing intensity debate, she said.
Templeton warned about complacency, after the wet summer Christchurch had experienced.
In the short term, she wanted to see councils work with landowners to at least plant low-flammability species around the outside of forestry blocks.
Natives v exotics
Wildfire and ecology researcher Dr Nicola Day said everything about pines was designed to burn.
"There's so many pieces of evidence that suggest to us that conifers - and pines in particular - love fire and will always burn really well. Fire begets fire in that situation."
Dr Day said pine was a necessary and versatile material, especially during a housing crisis, and couldn't be easily replaced by native trees, but it wasn't not a simple matter of natives versus exotics. Some native trees, such as mānuka and kānuka, were also highly flammable
She said, if she lived next door to a pine plantation, she'd plant green firebreaks, something Lincoln University's Tim Curran had refined based on hundreds of flammability experiments. While they wouldn't stop a fire, they were likely to at least slow the spread.
Councils, homeowners and lawmakers needed to start taking a whole-of-landscape approach, rather than looking at land use in isolation.
"Fire will connect across land, across properties and across titles - it doesn't care, it will just burn," she said.
City Council head of community support and partnerships John Filsell said there had been "substantial progress" since the fires.
During the recovery period, from February to May, the council spent about $750,000 in the Cashmere and Cracroft basins and the Adventure Park to lessen sediment runoff - ash, dirt and debris - and protect the city's waterways.
The council also collaborated with Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke, private landowners, Selwyn council and conservation groups working on Te Kākahu Kahukura - a voluntary initiative to restore native vegetation on the Port Hills, improve biodiversity, reduce pests, and connect people to the landscape.
The project received Department of Internal Affairs funding and, helped by volunteers, had instigated planting along waterways, between public and private land, and assisted with the recovery of parts of the fire-affected areas, Filsell said.
He said it was a "really quite successful initiative", but noted it primarily did not involve larger swathes of private land.
The council was working on a Port Hills plan that would encompass fire risk and management as part of its "overall vision". It had so far engaged with mana whenua and community boards, and would soon begin consultation with sector groups.
He said the visioning document seeks to offer a balanced approach to land use, but ultimately, council can't stop people from doing consented activities on their properties, and the fire recovery wasn't the "framework or the forum to reconcile those issues."
A council spokesperson said the plan would cover public land between Godley Head and Gebbies Pass, as well as private land - pending agreement from the landowner.
The spokesperson said they expect to have a draft sometime this year, with public consultation in 2026.
The council said despite being the Christchurch Adventure Park's majority shareholder, it had no ability to control what was planted on the property, as the park only leased the land from the landowner.
More Attentis sensors installed
On Friday, the council will unveil four new Attentis sensors on the Summit Rd, Sugar Loaf, and Kennedy's Bush on Friday. The sensors, which cost about $40,000 each, are part of the Christchurch City Council Information Network - early detection and environmental monitoring sensors.
The sensors can provide thermal imaging, weather monitoring, air quality and early fire detection.
The system was borne out of a recovery plan recommendation in the wake of the 2017 fire which highlighted the need to reduce wildfire hazard in high risk areas, and improve communication between agencies.
Monitors were installed in Bottle Lake Forest in 2022 and in the Adventure Park in December 2023.
The total cost for all sites is approximately $600,000.
Regional council planning manager Andrew Parrish said the council would review its plans around fire management against the new National Policy Statement on Commercial Forestry later this month.
Wildfires are not covered by Canterbury Regional Policy Statement, nor is drought or extreme weather events, and while proposed changes are part of a review of the policy statement - the council's key planning document - the review was "paused" until January 2026, after the government's changes to freshwater rules brought the process to a grinding halt late last year.
Parrish said the current plan directed new builds away from high-risk areas, and had rules on where and how commercial and plantation forestry can operate, but none applied to existing use consents.
Selwyn District Council head of emergency management Al Lawn said land use planning was critical in mitigating risk, especially in the area where rural land meets urban. He was also a keen advocate of green firebreaks, something he saw for himself after the 2017 fires.
"Having flown over the original Port Hills fire, seeing the difference that low-flammability plants in native plantings made in saving some houses and shifting where the fire was going was amazing, absolutely amazing.
"It's a really good use of land and it's also really good for biodiversity.
He said the relatively wet summer came as a relief to the district, after a busy start to the fire season late last year.
"They were really, really, really busy and it was nice to see the rain, which lessened the effect on our firefighters. The majority of firefighters in Selwyn are volunteers, so that has a big effect, if they're out everyday, on the employers and their families.
"We are very, very grateful for the rain, but also grateful to our firefighters, who give up their family time to fight our fires and keep us safe."
