Fire crews at Port Hills in Christchurch say the blaze is contained, but not out

A state of emergency remains in place, with 16 crews and seven helicopters containing it to a 50-metre edge around the perimeter.

Crews will also be mapping out hotspots with drones tonight, as they prepare for incoming changes in the weather.

FENZ incident controller Steve Kennedy, says they've still got a number of hotspots to get through.

He says some of them are on old skid sites, and require heavy machinery to dig them out, cool down and let burn down a bit before they get extinguished.