Lianne Dalziel says rubberneckers aren't helping and people need to 'stay at a distance' from the fires.

Rubberneckers are being warned to stay away from Christchurch's Port Hills.

Smoking piles of earth, blackened trees, scorched earth and collapsed fencelines are the visible signs that remain of the Waimarama

In the midst of the raging inferno enveloping Christchurch's picturesque Port Hills, came a new life.

State of emergency declared as Port Hills' wildfires continued yesterday.

It's been a long night for Christchurch residents. Here's what you need to know first thing this morning.

Christchurch braces for a hot and windy day as wildfires continue to wreak havoc.

Paul Askin has spent years fearing terrible news about his son Steve. On Tuesday, that moment came when the chopper pilot died fighting Christchurch's fires.

Evacuated family reveal the panicked scene of scared, fleeing families.

Civil Defence minister questions the emergency response to the Port Hills fires, which have destroyed five houses and caused hundreds to flee.

Police and the Defence Force personnel go door-to-door evacuating residents.

Find out the latest details on the Christchurch wildfires.

Ex-SAS serviceman and Waimakariri local David Steven Askin, 38, died in a chopper crash near the Sugarloaf car park in the Port Hills yesterday.

People, including Defence Force firefighters, and equipment is being deployed to help contain the wildfires.

Three investigations are underway into how a helicopter pilot and war hero died fighting a fire, as Army chief Major General Peter Kelly pays tribute.

Brand new Canterbury tourist attraction unable to escape fire's wrath.

A yacht fire left a person suffering smoke inhalation this morning.

Helicopters with monsoon buckets are back in the air today as more than 100 residents of a Christchurch seaside community were evacuated from an approaching blaze.

Four homes were evacuated, but residents have since returned to their homes.

New Zealand is now experiencing the worst of the fire season, a top officer says, with a dangerous combination of high temperatures and low relative humidity creating tinder-dry conditions across eastern hot-spots.

He carried the All Blacks to two world titles, now Richie McCaw is flying people around two huge Port Hills fires.

Photos from inside the cordon captured by The Christchurch Star photographers.

With a fire scarred home behind them, a Christchurch couple contemplate how close they were to losing their home.

It's a long, hot slog fighting a fire as big and complex as the one in the Hawke's Bay in the blazing heat. But it's also satisfying work.

More than a dozen helicopters, a plane and 100 firefighters continue to battle two massive Canterbury wildfires, but blazes in Hawke's Bay are now largely contained.

High winds to bring more misery to fire crews fighting bush blazes today, but no rain where it is needed.

One local resident described the terrifying moment when flames came right up to his family home on Waimarama Rd yesterday. Hawke's

Unison restored power to about 700 customers last night after it was cut during the blaze along Waimarama Rd. Unison relationship

The Airways Radar is also under threat from one of the two major bush fires burning near Christchurch.

Two bus-loads of school children are among those who have been escorted out of a Hawke's Bay fire zone, as several large fires burn throughout the district.