Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews from across Canterbury were kept busy over the weekend by vegetation fires, fanned by the weekend's high temperatures and strong winds.
Canterbury Fire and Emergency said online that its crews fought 11 vegetation fires across the district.
"They were of varying sizes and complexities, but all of our crews got down and dirty making sure they were all contained and extinguished," a spokesperson said in a post.
This morning, firefighters were still attempting to extinguish hotspots at one of the fires in the North Canterbury settlement of Rotherham.
At its peak, FENZ said there were 20 trucks, a command unit and three helicopters on scene.
"During the firefighting efforts we had to redeploy aircraft to fires that had started in Cheviot and Kaikoura," they said.
"We would like to thank the public for heeding our advice to not light fires over the weekend.
"While it wasn't the extreme fire danger that our poor friends over the ditch are experiencing, it was enough to keep us busy."
Fire burns at beach in Nelson
Smouldering vegetation was also seen by 1News at Tahunanui Beach in Nelson this morning.
Reporter Jessica Roden said there were at least five fire trucks at the scene, as well as police.
She said it did not appear anyone was being evacuated, and things looked "relatively contained" as of 11am.
She noted that it was still quite windy in the area, conditions that were forecast by MetService to continue throughout the day.
FENZ said crews from Nelson, Stoke, Appleby and Hira attended.
The fire was estimated to cover around 250 square metres.
"Crews are currently working to extinguish the fire, dampen down hot spots, and manage the effects of wind conditions."
Bush in Hawke's Bay burns
On Waitara Rd, northwest of Napier, around 45 FENZ and forestry workers were fighting an approximately 22ha fire which broke out yesterday.
A Hawke's Bay Fire and Emergency spokesperson said 18ha of this was in Pan Pac forest, and 4ha in Department of Conservation native bush.
One digger was also operating in the area, they said.
"We are continuing to work closely with our forestry and DOC partners."
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