A massive scrub fire is raging out of control in the foothills of the Canterbury ranges near Springfield.
Eight helicopters with monsoon buckets are trying to control the blaze, which started on Bold Hill in the early hours of Saturday.
North Canterbury Department of Conservation operations manager Kingsley Timpson says the difficult terrain means the fire is spreading fast.
"The last estimate we had was in excess of 100 hectares, and potential for it to grow is quite large," he says.
Further north firefighters are dampening down hotspots after a house was badly damaged in Marlborough.
A neighbour told Newshub a woman had pulled over in her car on the property at about 9am. She lifted the bonnet and flames jumped out of it.
The fire spread to dry grass before the house on the property caught alight. The neighbour said it didn't appear the woman was seriously injured, and it's believed no one had lived in the house for around 15 years.
"Unfortunately the fire spread quite quickly and got into the paddock and then into a house on the paddock as well," Fire Service spokesperson Riwai Grace said.
"At the height of the blaze we had seven fire engines and rural tankers trying to extinguish the blaze, along with three aircraft."
A vineyard is near the property, and there's also concerns about the impact the smoke has had to the grapes.
No one was injured in the fire.
Newshub.
