Firefighters will continue to monitor a large vegetation fire which led to the evacuation of houses in Canterbury's Castle Hill Village overnight.
"Air operations were stood down just before dusk, but ground crews remain on site through to monitor and fight the fire where it is safe to do so," Fire and Emergency New Zealand said in a 9.40pm update.
Eleven homes in Castle Hill Village remain occupied after residents were told earlier today to prepare to evacuate.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand incident commander Brian Keown said earlier today that it is possible, but not probable, the large vegetation fire at Bridge Hill will reach the village overnight.
"An emergency plan has been created by Fire and Emergency, Selwyn District Council’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Group and New Zealand Police in case of the need for an emergency evacuation of these remaining residents overnight."
The area is restricted to the remaining residents and emergency services, "with police present and security patrols to take place through the night".
"A community meeting is scheduled for 1pm tomorrow in case people are still evacuated at that point. This will be held at the Tawera Memorial Hall in Springfield," Fire and Emergency said.
Incident Commander Dave Key thanked all who evacuated.
"Thank you to the community of Castle Hill Village for implementing their pre-prepared emergency plans, we appreciated your help and understanding," he said.
"This is a precautionary move, but those who have self-evacuated have made it a lot easier for us should we need to conduct an emergency evacuation through the night.
"To those that have stayed, you must be ready to evacuate at very short notice."
Fire estimated to have grown in size
An approximately 450-hectare fire jumped State Highway 73 earlier on Thursday. (Source: 1News)
The fire remains at 535 hectares as of this evening. However, it is estimated to have grown in size, with Fire and Emergency noting that mapping of the fire was last completed in the late afternoon.
It has predominantly been growing to the north, but a wind shift has pushed it back down to the south slowly, Fire and Emergency said.
The blaze remains "out of control and uncontained", Keown said earlier today. Containment efforts have been hampered by high winds and extreme fire behaviour.
The blaze earlier jumped State Highway 73, which will remain closed overnight. Fire and Emergency will work alongside Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency to assess the safety of the highway in the morning.
Flockhill Lodge — which had been used as an evacuation point for one of three schools — has "in turn been evacuated as a precaution", Keown said.
No other evacuations have taken place.
Fire and Emergency crews are fighting a three-hectare vegetation fire near Lake Pearson in Canterbury. (Source: FENZ)
"We're in contact with other schools who have camps in the area," Keown said.
"Outside of the three schools evacuated from the Environmental Education Centre and Forest Lodge, all other school camps are safe and away from the fire.
"Parents can be assured that their children are not in danger."
In an update to a Facebook post at 1.20pm, Fire and Emergency said residents of Castle Hill Village have been warned to prepare to evacuate as a precaution.
1News takes a look at conditions in the Canterbury region on Thursday. (Source: 1News)
"There is no risk currently to the village but it is recommended residents be prepared to evacuate if needed," Keown said.
"This includes important documents, medication, supplies for pets and other animals, and personal items needed for a couple of days.
"Should an evacuation notice be made, residents will have plenty of time to evacuate."
Smoke billows from a fire on SH73 near Castle Hill. (Source: 1News)
There are currently nine helicopters, three fixed-wing aircraft, and 12 trucks, tankers and support vehicles at the scene.
Three school groups were evacuated from camps in the area as a precaution. Two were staying at the Environmental Education Centre, while the other one was at Forest Lodge, Keown earlier added.
"All students are safe and well away from the fire.
"We are working extremely hard to get this fire contained."
'Buoyant and hopeful'
Castle Hill Village resident Carol Ferrier packs her belongings as she evacuates. (Source: 1News)
Castle Hill Village resident Carol Ferrier told 1News she and her family had been waiting for most of the day "on sort of tenterhooks" when they got the call from emergency services to evacuate.
"We've made the call and we're going to load the cars and head down to Christchurch," she said.
"It has been a crazy long day. It's been a very busy day of lots of messages, checking in on people, checking on guests.
"It's a relief to know that we have got a decision and I like to feel confident that we are actually going to be OK."
The sun setting over Castle Hill Village. (Source: 1News)
Ferrier said while the weather has been "quite blustery", she hoped the stream and gravel road would spare nearby properties from the fire.
"You have to remain buoyant and hopeful, and I think we have reason to be hopeful.
"So yeah, I'm going to be hopeful."
'We all stick together'
Castle Hill Station farm manager Anne Hann says the situation is "scary". (Source: 1News)
Castle Hill Station farm manager Anne Hann told 1News they're concerned about a possible wind change sending the blaze near their doorstep.
The station — one of "six or seven" dotting the valley — is near the main part of the fire at neighbouring Flock Hill Station.
"We're just trying to understand where the fire is looking like it's going to head so that we can move some stock if we need to and just get ourselves prepared for any evacuations if that looks likely," she said.
She also expressed concern for their neighbours, as well as the elderly in Castle Hill Village.
"We've had continuous phone calls from other people wondering if we need a hand or anything similar and our guys have already assisted Flock Hill this morning moving stock as well, so we all work together and we all stay in touch.
"We all stick together, aye?"
Castle Hill Station staff overlooking the blaze in Castle Hill. (Source: 1News)
Hann said the situation was "scary, to be honest — especially when they say it's uncontrolled".
"There is a fair bit of distance in between [the two stations] and probably don't know how fast it's going to go but I think the biggest question for us, from our point of view, is what happens at night-time when we don't have nine choppers in the air … It's a little bit more of an unknown factor.
"But I think we're reasonably OK. We've cleared the blocks that are the closest and it's a bit further out. We've got, hopefully, a bit more time to work out what to do."
Part of SH73 closed, no detour available
The blaze in Castle Hill has forced the closure of SH73 near Craigieburn. (Source: 1News)
Keown said SH73 is closed between Castle Hill and Arthurs Pass "and will be for some time".
"People should avoid the area and look to make alternative travel arrangements if they were planning to use this road today."
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said there was no detour available and there was no expected time frame for the road to reopen.
"Avoid the area or delay your journey if possible," the agency advised.
Motorists were reminded to keep their eyes on the road if they were driving in the area.
Eight helicopters have joined the fight, with one more on the way — Fire and Emergency New Zealand says the fire is not controlled or contained. (Source: Canterbury Fire and Emergency) (Source: Supplied)
FENZ was first alerted to the incident at 4.24am after a fire had started in scrub at Bridge Hill near Lake Pearson.
It added crews were keen to get on top of the blaze as strong winds were expected throughout the day.
Additional reporting by Blair Norton
