Fires still burn south of Christchurch

Fire fighters are still battling to control scrub fires which have raged south of Christchurch since yesterday afternoon.

Strong winds swept fires across dry paddocks in the Selwyn Rd, Robinsons Rd and Shands Rd area near Prebbleton.

Lincoln chief fire officer Kevin Greene said this morning the fire was contained but not yet fully under control.

"Although it's contained you only need a wind gust to come up and we'll be in trouble."

He said: "Crews have been at the fire all night, dampening it down and picking up hot spots."

"To make matters worse there's been a road accident at the corner of Boundary Rd and Springs Rd so we've had to divert trucks there."

Incident controller Chris Hewitt said numbers fighting the fires over night varied depending on weather conditions.

"With the wind we had flair ups and then the need [for staff numbers] would die down again," he said.

"[The crews have] come from as far away as the hill country, so that's the likes of Lake Coleridge, through to Banks Peninsula, so the whole rural fire district."

Mr Hewitt said: "This morning there are five crews so that's 25 to 30 staff on site."

No monsoon buckets were in use this morning but Mr Hewitt said they are on standby.

He could not say whether the fires would be put out today.

"As long as the wind remains calm, although it's starting to pick up again now, we'll be focussing on risk points. That's around fence lines and wind breaks."

Mr Hewitt said so far four houses had been confirmed as being destroyed in the blaze and an unknown number had also suffered damage.

Selwyn district mayor Kelvin Coe said yesterday a welfare centre was being set up at the Lincoln Event Centre for evacuated residents to spend the night.

Rhona McShane from Lincoln Event Centre said this morning no one had stayed at the centre.

"Everybody was found accommodation. We closed our doors at about 11.30 last night."

Mrs McShane did not know how many people had lost their homes. She said the centre would be referring any calls from residents to Victim Support.

Famous Grouse Hotel owner Craig Bradford said people evacuated from their homes had gathered in the Lincoln pub yesterday.

"They were all in the pub last night. They were told they couldn't go back to their homes. There would have been about 20 people."

Mr Bradford did not know how many people in total had been displaced.

Mr Hewitt said the cause of the fire was not yet known, but an investigation which commenced yesterday would be fully underway today.