A fire in rural Canterbury between Rolleston and Templeton as the temperature topped 34 degrees in February. Rural Canterbury will return to an open fire season five weeks after a total ban was put in place. The Christchurch metro area, which encompasses Christchurch, the Port Hills and Banks Peninsula, would also change from a prohibited to a restricted fire season at midnight on Friday. The region was initially put into a total fire ban, which prohibited any outdoor fires in the open air being lit, on February 20. It followed the Christchurch metro area, which went into a total fire ban eight days prior.

Source: Stuff March 29, 2019 01:30 UTC