On 13 February 2017 at about 5.45pm a fire was reported near the Early Valley Road in the Port Hills south of Christchurch. The fire spread quickly and by 6.40pm had spread about 1.5 kilometres, destroying one dwelling and damaging three others.

At about 7.10pm on the same day, another fire was reported some 5 kilometres to the east-north-east on Summit Road. This fire also expanded rapidly, burning well into the evening.

By 11.25am the next day the fires were measured respectively at 496 hectares and 28 hectares. By this time the Early Valley fire had destroyed two dwellings and damaged four more. Both fires grew slowly throughout 14 February.

Although by the morning of 15 February the fires remained separate, a late morning wind change caused them to merge together to become the Port Hills complex of fires. By 1.00pm the complex measured about 1,000 hectares with a 40 kilometre perimeter; by the morning of 16 February the fire had burned about 1,600 hectares with a 57 kilometre perimeter, destroyed nine dwellings and damaged another five.

Approximately 200 firefighters from the Rural Fire Authority and the New Zealand Fire Service were involved in combating the fires, supported by Civil Defence and Emergency Management personnel. Over 36 agencies contributed to the firefighting effort. Tragically, a helicopter pilot lost his life on 14 February while directly engaged in fire suppression operations. 

Suppression and mopping-up activities on the Port Hills complex lasted for over three weeks, with a final extent of 1,661 hectares and perimeter of 61 kilometres. This makes it one of the largest fires in New Zealand since the Wither Hills fires of 2000, and the largest in the Canterbury region since the Balmoral forest fire of 1955.