Crews from 14 fire brigades brought the blaze under control. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Three homes were evacuated due to a wildfire in north Canterbury on Thursday morning.
Firefighters were called to a vegetation fire at Masons Flat in Hurunui, about 90km north of Christchurch, just before 1am.
Crews from 14 fire brigades were deployed to bring the blaze under control.
The fire is now contained and one household has returned while the other two are waiting until fire-damaged trees have been felled.
In March, one person died in a house fire north in Hurunui.
The risk of wildfire is high in rural Canterbury, despite heavy rain forecasts across the South Island, Fire and Emergency response coordinator Brian Keown said.
Banks Peninsula, Christchurch City, and most of the Canterbury High Country are still in a prohibited fire season. Canterbury Plains north of the Rakaia River is in a restricted season.
"It's not unusual for us to be dealing with flooding in one part of our region and fires in another," Keown said.
"It's understandable that people might see the rain warnings and think that the wildfire risk has finished, but what happened in Hurunui overnight is a clear reminder that the threat remains for now."