Despite darkness now descending on the Bridge Hill fire, Fire and Emergency will still be conducting active firefighting throughout the night.

Air operations were stood down just before dusk, but ground crews remain on site through to monitor and fight the fire where it is safe to do so.

Self-evacuations have taken place in Castle Hill Village, with 11 homes still occupied.

An emergency plan has been created by Fire and Emergency, Selwyn District Council’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Group and New Zealand Police in case of the need for an emergency evacuation of these remaining residents overnight.

An emergency evacuation will be carried out via Emergency Mobile Alert and door knocking.

The area is restricted to only those residents who remain, and emergency services, with Police present and security patrols to take place through the night.

A community meeting is scheduled for 1pm tomorrow in case people are still evacuated at that point. This will be held at the Tawera Memorial Hall in Springfield.

Incident Commander Dave Key thanked those people who had self-evacuated.

"Thank you to the community of Castle Hill Village for implementing their pre-prepared emergency plans, we appreciated your help and understanding," he says.

"This is a precautionary move, but those who have self-evacuated have made it a lot easier for us should we need to conduct an emergency evacuation through the night.

"To those that have stayed, you must be ready to evacuate at very short notice."

The approximate fire size remains at 535 hectares, although mapping of the fire was last completed in late afternoon, so it is estimated to have grown in size.

SH73 will remain closed overnight. In the morning, Fire and Emergency will work with the New Zealand Transport Agency | Waka Kotahi to assess the safety of the highway.

This will be the final update for the night unless significant developments occur.

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