The fire which broke out on Wednesday night on Canterbury's Pegasus Beach was "its own beast", a resident of nearby Kaiapoi says.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) said the fire was started from fireworks being set off in high winds. Two youths have been spoken to by the police, and the fire continues to smoulder this morning but is now well-contained.
Kaiapoi resident Anna Scott told Breakfast she was grateful her home was unaffected.
"Very thankful...From previous years, when we know there's been a fire in the forest, we know that that fire's going to track quite quickly.
"So we hopped on our roof of our little shed and just monitored it, we could see the glow," Scott said.
She said her children were scared when, around 11pm on Wednesday, the fire got closer.
"The blaze really felt like it was on our doorstep.
"They were very scared, they've never seen anything like it. Really the reason that we left was just to reassure them that everything was gonna be OK and the animals were gonna be OK," Scott said.
"We're familiar with forest fires here, monsoon buckets, helicopters, they're often tripping around in the summer, but just for more little hotspots. But this one, it was its own beast, it was huge."
FENZ said in a statement this morning that they are continuing to dampen down hotspots, and the fire remained within containment lines overnight. But to Scott, it felt like nobody could stop the blaze at one point.
"And I knew everyone was doing all the hard work that they could to try and stop it but it just was a force, a force of nature," she said.
"Unbelievable, and frightening, and scary, and you felt like you had no control really."
Around 130 people were evacuated as the fire, north of Christchurch, quickly moved south. About 200 hectares were burnt, spanning about 5.5 kilometres along the coast north of the Waimakariri River. More than 70 firefighters worked to control it.
When asked how she felt about the blaze being started by fireworks, Scott said "it's really unfortunate".
"I know fireworks are great fun, and also fires on the beach, but it does really make you aware they they're actually really dangerous.
"It's definitely a learning tool of how we can prevent this 'cause this can't happen again, it was too terrifying."
About 130 hectares of wilding pine are still smouldering, FENZ said this morning.
Anyone affected by the smoke is advised to keep their windows and doors closed, and stay inside if they can.
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