Firefighters battling the ongoing Port Hills blaze are being kept well fed and fuelled with food donated by the public.
Between 150 and 250 people were working each day to put the fire out, dousing it with water and monitoring hotspots.
Rhonda McNicol is the caterer for Fire and Emergency and said the team had been lucky to receive so many donations rolling in.
She had served donated chips, ice-creams, fruit and muesli bars to the crews, among other items.
A lot of donations have been rolling in. Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon
"We feed them here at breakfast in the morning. Then at lunch we deliver the food up to the fireground, and then at night when there's a shift change, the shift going off and the shift coming on will come here and we'll feed them here before they go on to the fireground at night."
As for what goes into a firefighter's breakfast, McNicol said yesterday's most important meal of the day was a bun filled with bacon, eggs, sausages, and onions.
"We're roving round all the time, so we're always making sure they're well fed."
McNicol said food had been donated from throughout the country to support the team fighting the blaze and that had been humbling.
The donations are "really special", Rhonda McNicol says. Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon
She said a local mother and son had baked stacks of biscuits to give to the crews and donuts had been sent from as far away as Auckland.
"There's three boxes that arrived on a plane this morning from Auckland and in there is the donuts, which I'm saving for dessert tonight. It's just something really special that I know the firefighters will really appreciate tonight after a long hard day on the fireground."
McNicol said people donating goods had been grateful for the work the firefighters were doing.
One of those making donations was Lynette, who lived at the base of Worsley Spur.
People donating goods are doing so out of gratitude. Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon
She said it had been devastating watching the hills burn, and had given the crew at the cordon coffee and slice as a thank you for their work.
"We went for a walk earlier and bought the guys some coffees. We have a really good community here and we've got a really active Facebook page that we all talk on, and we just can't believe how amazing all the first responders have been."
Lynette said the coordinated effort put in by emergency services had made her feel safe.
"They had a refuelling station at the bottom of our street and seeing all of the helicopters packed up and the communication... We've felt really safe".
She said the crew made her feel reassured that she would have plenty of warning if her family needed to evacuate.
