Our 3-Step Escape Plan

  • First Escape Route
  • Second Escape Route
  • Meeting Place
Notes

Use this space to note any additional information about your escape plan, i.e. who will assist

Your checklist

  • Get low

    Smoke is poisonous and more deadly than flames.

    If you breathe smoke for more than a few breaths it can kill you.

  • Be fast

    A house fire can kill you in less than three minutes.

    Don't spend time trying to save possessions.

  • Close doors

    A closed door buys you time.

    It slows down the spread of fire, giving you more time to get to safety.

  • Get out - stay out!

    People have died by going back into a fire.

    Don't leave the meeting place to go back inside for any reason.

Call emergency services as soon as you are out and safe. Ask for FIRE.

Clearly state your address and let the operator know it anyone is still inside or has not made it to the safe meeting place.

Emergency call 111 Emergency text 111
Fire & Emergency New Zealand

Learning the lessons of wildfires past: Port Hills

Learning the lessons of wildfires past: Port Hills

18 March 2025

In 2017, a wildfire tore through Christchurch’s Port Hills, burning through approximately 1,600 of land, claiming nine homes and damaging five others. Tragically, the fire also claimed one life. It took 66 days for the fire to be fully extinguished.

Since that fire, a lot of low flammability planting has been done in the area, to slow down future wildfires. In addition, each year, multiple community fire preparedness meetings have taken place across the district, including multi-agency presentations on emergency planning, preparedness, and risk reduction.

Local fire crews have undertaken regular familiarisation visits of the area, and, in November 2023, all IMT staff took part in a simulation exercise based on a large wildfire at Bottle Lake Forest.

When another fire broke out on Port Hills in 2024, the local brigades and the community were better prepared. The local residents were promptly evacuated, the fire was quickly contained, and the recovery phase kicked into gear at the same time as the response phase.

After the 2024 fire, a Fire and Emergency Recovery Coordinator worked with the Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Recovery Manager on a new readiness plan. This work included working with landowners and communities on low flammability planting, emergency planning, firefighting access, firefighting water supplies and community fire preparedness meetings.

Nearly four kilometres of fire break were established as part of the fire suppression plans; assessments of these breaks were completed by Iwi, consultants and a Fire and Emergency representative to ensure no taonga were affected. A fire break rehabilitation plan was developed and completed as part of the CDEM recovery plan. In addition, work is currently underway to install heat-detecting cameras to provide an early warning in case of future fires in the area.

This work has been a collaborative effort with local Iwi, the Summit Road Society, Christchurch City Council and the community to ensure the area is better prepared for emergencies.

Port Hills’s risk reduction and readiness activities are an excellent example of what can be achieved when a community, the local brigade and supporting agencies all work together to identify risks and get prepared.

The time to plan, and act, is now. We can help you prepare, just reach out to your local brigade.

Back to news hub