As winter exits and Otago begins to dry out, rural firefighters are keeping an eye on the weather.
The restricted fire and permitted rural burn season is under way across much of the province and people are being reminded they will be liable for costs should rural fire services be called to out-of-control burn-offs.
In most rural fire areas in Otago, a restricted season is in place, meaning there fires cannot be lit without a permit from the local council, or the Department of Conservation if land is within 1km of Doc land.
In the Waitaki, Queenstown Lakes and Dunedin rural fire districts, a permit is required for any outdoor fire year-round, whereas in Central Otago, Waitaki and Clutha, permits are generally only required during the dryer summer months.
Each year, complete fire bans (i.e. no permits issued) are likely to be enforced in almost all parts of Otago for various lengths of time, usually between December and April.
Dunedin City Council civil defence and rural fires manager Neil Brown said the fire weather monitors were still indicating a relatively low fire risk in Dunedin's rural fire area, but the long-term forecast was for a dry spring and an early summer.
In rural fire areas where permits were required for burn-offs, controlled burns had been occurring last month and this, in accordance with farming practice.
Queenstown Lakes District Council principal rural fire officer Gordon Bailey said later in the year vegetation would be drying out, which was why farmers chose to undertake controlled burns during October or earlier.
Controlled burns on high-country farms around Queenstown, the Cardrona Valley and Wanaka were scheduled for October.
People should not be alarmed if they saw smoke around these areas but, if in doubt, they should call emergency services, he said.
In the Waitaki district, the council tried to issue most burn-off permits for September, Waitaki District Council principal rural fire officer Steve Couper said.
Rural Fire was called to assist in a couple of cases when fires got out of control in windy conditions in the central South Island high country last weekend, but the situation had been relatively well-controlled up to then.
There had been a one-month prohibited fire season in Waitaki last year.
The council tried to avoid prohibited seasons, but with a La Nina weather pattern expected to bring warm weather late in spring, there was some potential for another dry summer, Mr Couper said.
There was still an open-fire season in place in Central Otago, but vegetation which would start drying off soon, principal rural fire officer Owen Burgess said.
Doc staff are also preparing for the fire season with a firefighting training session completed recently.
