Eight helicopter crews with monsoon buckets were fighting a “deep seated” wildfire on the hills of Mt Roy in the New Zealand holiday resort town of Wanaka on January 4.

Crews were prepared to evacuate 30 homes and a holiday park around 3am but then wind shifted, Stuff.co.nz and the Otago Daily Times reported.

The fire had burned 199 hectares, and was expected to take another two days to extinguish. Credit: Facebook/Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management via Storyful