A Saddle Hill man ''went 24 hours non-stop'' while he saved his home and his neighbours' homes from burning in Wednesday's raging fire.
Architectural designer Richard Wilden (57) sent his daughter to a friend's house and his wife away with the pets when he heard how bad the fire was.
By the time he got back from seeing it first-hand, a 30m by 4m block of trees just metres from his house were ablaze.
''It was pretty frightening,'' Mr Wilden said.
''We have so much vegetation around our house. It just exploded in a ball of flames.''
The fire was just 50m down the road from where a woman was seriously injured saving pets.
Mr Wilden said the blaze in his driveway started from embers blown in from the main blaze.
He said the 5m wall of flames ''became very serious''.
''It was blowing sparks and burning debris everywhere.
''It was hot, but it was the smoke that was the problem. It was so dense I could hardly see.''
After an hour, Mr Wilden contained the fire by using his tractor to cart mulch from a nearby pond and dumping it on the flames.
After dealing with the fire at his property, Mr Wilden ''realised the neighbour was in trouble'' and feared that if he did not help them, his home would once again be in danger.
So, he used his tractor to help defend his neighbour's house.
He spent the next day and a-half helping firefighters and Department of Conservation staff put out spot fires in the area.
''With the idea that you're going to lose everything ... I don't know how anyone could have slept anyway,'' Mr Wilden said.
• Mr Wilden is a distant relative of Alister Wilden, who featured in Friday's Otago Daily Times after he helped his neighbours flee Wednesday's fire.
