Baby born after family escapes the raging Christchurch fires

As Luke Thomas rushed his heavily-pregnant wife Jessica to hospital, leaping flames licked the scrub and trees above their harbour-side home.

In the midst of the raging inferno enveloping Christchurch's picturesque Port Hills, which has claimed the life of a decorated war hero, homes, and hundreds of hectares, came a new life.

Just hours after the Thomas family evacuated from their fire-threatened Governors Bay home, tiny baby Thea made her arrival in the world - a week early.

"It's kind of typical. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen on the night the fire beat down and people were evacuated," Luke told the Herald.

"It was crazy. As we drove around the hill, you could see this huge, glowing orange in the night sky right behind our house. It was pretty upsetting." 

They drove to a friend's house in Christchurch where a midwife met them, and after a quick check, told them to get to Christchurch Women's Hospital immediately.

At 6.47am yesterday, weighing 7lb 1oz baby Thea was born.

"Mum and baby are doing great and the labour went perfectly. It was very quick, especially for a first birth," Luke said.

"I'm sure it was sped up by the situation, of getting out."

Last night, as the fires raged on and hundreds more Cantabrians were evacuated from hillside areas, the Thomas family was reflecting on the day's events.

"We're stoked. There's a lot going on, and a lot of the people in Governors Bay are part of the volunteer fire brigade as well, and those guys are doing amazing work," Luke said.

"We will always remember the day Thea was born."

Read the full story at the NZ Herald.

- NZ Herald