Two helicopters with monsoon buckets assisted crews from Weston, Kakanui and Waitaki Rural at the fire at a logging site near Windsor, Weston Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Bevan Koppert said.
About 2ha burned on the side of a steep gully.
The helicopters were required "because manpower just can't handle that kind of terrain - it's just far too steep'', Mr Koppert said.
It took nearly three hours to bring the fire under control.
"[The logging gang] had logged all that side of that hill, it was all slashings that were lying on the ground, and they decided they would burn a bit of it,'' Mr Koppert said.
"They burned it and then of course the wind got up and it just picked the lot up and it just went right through all the slashings.''
About 12 to 14 firefighters battled the blaze after the call came in about 11.20am.
The Weston brigade handed the fire over to the Rural Fire Authority to knock down the hot spots about 2pm as temperatures neared 30degC.
The Weston brigade was called out again at 2.15pm after a branch fell on power lines while a tree was being trimmed, sparking another fire.
The second call lasted only 40 minutes.
