Port Hills Fires, Christchurch
The Port Hills fires started late afternoon on February 13th. The first fire that started was on Early Valley road, around and hour and a half later another fire started on Marley's Hill. They were only a few kilometres apart, but by Wednesday the two fires had joined together.
During Wednesday the fire had spread and burnt over around 2,500 acres. About 1000 Christchurch residents had to be evacuated out of their homes. In the 24 hours from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, the fire had doubled in size to over 4,900 acres. This was because aerial firefighting can only happen during the day. 8 houses have been burned down due to the fire.
The cause of the fires is still unknown, although there are some suspicions around the fact that both fires were only kilometres apart and started 90 minutes apart raised the suspicions. Although there was another theory, early reports suggested an electrical fault had started the Early Valley fire, while the source of the Marleys Hill fire was unknown.
My guess is that the fires could have possibly been started deliberately. New Zealand has been having very hot and dry weather lately so I think that that could have added to the problem.
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