Flames from the Port Hills wildfire are seen burning along a ridgeline. Photo: Supplied / Alyson Keller
A Christchurch resident says her bags are sitting packed by the door in case her family gets evacuated from the Port Hills wildfire again.
Alyson Keller left her Worsleys Road home on Wednesday when the fire broke out just 500m away.
She went out for ten minutes to pick up her son from school, and returned to find her home behind a police cordon.
"We waited for a while and we got to a point where my son and I decided - we left the car - we'd try and walk up the road and see if they would let us get back into our house," Keller said.
"And fortunately, we could ... that was my first kind of sigh of relief, that I was in the house with my husband and at least we were together."
Smoke from the Port Hills fire is seen billowing behind a home. Photo: Supplied / Alyson Keller
Keller's family moved down from Auckland two years ago, so neighbours with experience of the 2017 fires ran them through an evacuation check list before they left.
"Moving anything that could ignite away from the house; someone said we should put the sprinklers on if we had that around the house ... the other thing was making sure the house was secure, making sure the windows were shut so the smoke didn't get in obviously, turning the power off," she said.
They then left to stay with family in Prebbleton for the night.
"On the drive to Prebbleton, it was quite scary to see the flames because it was dark by then. We could see just how prolific it was, which we couldn't appreciate when we were in it, just how much it spread at that point," Keller said.
The next day they were allowed back home, where they had been since.
A helicopter is seen at the edge of a huge smoke cloud issuing from the Port Hills wildfire. Photo: Supplied / Alyson Keller
It was difficult to settle that first night back with the fire fighting efforts happening so close to home, Keller said.
"There was a lot of traffic coming up and down, it was harder to sleep with the amount still going on. But we got through. We've had two nights back now, and each night's been easier."
She remained on alert, conscious that while the fire was contained, it was still burning.
"It feels like it's heading in the right direction, but still our bags are packed, we're following the process and just being ready in case we need to go. The winds are meant to turn tomorrow, on Sunday, so we're not fully rested until the fire is out."
The dog crate was also packed and ready to go alongside bags of the family's essentials.
Keller said she was highly impressed with the emergency services and grateful for their efforts battling the blaze.
'We've got to adapt and change our thinking' - Port Hills resident
A Port Hills resident and scientist who was evacuated from his home earlier this week says land use in the area needs to be adapted given the ongoing wildfire risk.
Port Hills resident and senior University of Canterbury Environment lecturer Matiu Prebble stands next to a scorched stump from the 2017 fires, about 100 meters from his home. Photo: RNZ / Caleb Fotheringham
Matiu Prebble, a senior University of Canterbury environment lecturer, was turned away at the cordon on Wednesday after driving home from working in Timaru to find the hills in flames.
He is now back at his property in Early Valley Road, but Prebble estimated the fire came within a kilometre of his property, which was burnt in the 2017 fires.
"There are choppers putting out spot fires, we routinely have fire trucks heading up the road. They've put a whole line of fire retardant along the periphery of the burnt area, so there's a lot of activity and we're expecting that to continue for the next week or two," he said.
A helicopter holding a monsoon bucket flies over the Port Hills marked with red fire retardant at the back of Early Valley Road. Photo: RNZ / Caleb Fotheringham
Prebble said there should be less plantation forestry on the tinder dry Port Hills, which now seemed to be locked into a fire cycle.
"That came out in 2017, that plantation forestry is just not something we can do on the Port Hills, it's too dangerous," he said.
"Hopefully that will be addressed further, more restrictions there, or even actually larger-scale removal - especially the pine plantations. We've got to adapt and change our thinking about land use."
Native planting and different forms of grazing were also important ways to make the hills more fire resistant, Prebble said.
Another Port Hills resident also wanted more done to prevent and slow potential wildfires. Alasdair Kincaid said he was not shocked by this fire as the vegetation is so tinder dry, and he expects wildfires would be an ongoing problem for the area in future years too.
Kincaid now lives by the Cracroft shops at the bottom of the hills, but lived even closer to the fire zone in 2017.
He said permanent fire breaks must be placed between the pine trees to stop future large events. As it was, it would not have taken much for this fire to have taken hold, he said.
"It didn't really surprise me, it was kind of like when, not if.
So I guess we'll just wait another seven years or so, and start again perhaps - I don't know."
Kincaid said he felt safer now that he was lower down on the Port Hills.
