Ten helicopters were in action yesterday trying to slow the spread of the fire, which has already razed more than 700 hectares of pine forest 30km west of Dunedin.
While the helicopters used monsoon buckets, it is hoped a fixed wing plane can be used to drop chemical retardant over the area today.
Two more houses were evacuated yesterday, bringing the total number to five. Their eight residents had to stay away last night and firefighters are hoping for a wind change to lower the risk to the houses.
The fire is believed to have started on Tuesday through logging operations in the Mt Allan forest, which is owned by Wenita Forest Products. It then spread to a tree plantation.
Civil Defence and Rural Fire manager Neil Brown said it was one of the largest fires of its type in the region.
The fire was being fanned by northwesterly and northeasterly winds that were predicted to continue for the next few days, but conditions eased last evening.
More than half of the fire area was made up of pine trees and the remainder was even more flammable, dry, post-harvest debris that was providing ideal fuel for the fire to travel quickly.
The fire could potentially destroy thousands more hectares of pine forest in the area and firefighters on the ground were not able to safely tackle the blaze in most areas.
There are several creeks and other natural barriers that should slow the spread of the fire but it was a matter of waiting for winds to die down and hopefully some rain, Mr Brown said.
"There is just so much fuel there and we are just trying to hold it as tight as we can.
"The potential to burn is quite huge," Mr Brown said.
