A large area of trees and scrub on fire in rural Christchurch has kept firefighters busy overnight as they battled the blaze into the early hours.
Fourteen firefighters, at 6am, were still on scene at the fire near Worsleys Rd, a rural area, keeping an eye on the contained fire understood to be around 3ha.
"We don't believe it is big as first thought," a Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman said.
The fire was first reported after midnight, and, at its peak Fenz transmitted a second alarm bringing in several water tankers and fire engines.
"Thanks to the quick response by members of the public calling 111 and also the fast response of our crews to get on top of this early."
