Firefighters in New Zealand's second-largest city were able to halt a wildfire's advance on suburban homes Thursday after it burned down 11 houses in the hill suburbs and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

John Mackie, the civil defense controller for Christchurch, said about 130 firefighters on the ground assisted by more than a dozen helicopters had stopped the fire from encroaching further into the city.

He said the plan was to let it burn itself out, and that a forecast of rain over the weekend would help. He said the fire was spread over about 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) in Christchurch's Port Hills.