The History of bushfires in NZ

We are currently experiencing a devastating forest fire in NZ, in the Port Hills of Christchurch. While NZ is used to natural disasters, we don't necessarily include forest fires on that list. Some of our most well-known historical events have involved urban fires, for example, the disastrous Ballantynes fire of 1947. We tend to associate forest fires with Australia. Yet, NZ has had its share of forest fires, and many much larger than the current one.