Ken Whyte said he had had an annual bonfire for more than 20 years without incident.
It was usually attended by about 40 family members and neighbours.
But this year, the authority had turned down his repeated requests for a permit, and he was angry.
Mr Whyte believed he was being denied a permit because much of the region was tinder dry and the authority had put a blanket ban on all fires.
''It's an annual thing. I've always had a permit, but this year they said they weren't issuing any permits after December 24 because the region is in drought.
''But we're certainly not in drought conditions here.''
He said his property was on the Warrington coastline which had received about 50mm of rain in the past three weeks, as well as a lot of moisture from drizzle and sea fog.
''It's helped keep the moisture levels up.''
He has assembled a large pile of dry branches for a bonfire and he had a permit to burn it during the day yesterday.
But he was bemused that he was not allowed to light it after dark.
He believed the fire authorities were being overly sensitive.
''It's disappointing. In fact it's quite ridiculous - we're not in drought.''
Otago region principal rural fire officer Graeme Still said fire permits had been suspended between December 24 and January 7 so volunteer firefighters could take a break over the holiday period.
''All we're saying is we just want a wee window so that the volunteers can have a bit of a Christmas as well.
''They're not paid to do these jobs. I think it's a fair thing to do.
''We're not trying to be killjoys. What I'm trying to do is look after our volunteers.''
He said volunteer firefighters would still have to respond to vegetation fires that got out of control. The initiative was designed to save them from having to respond to a call about a bonfire, which they would have to attend whether it was out of control or not.
Mr Still said he was aware of the fire conditions in the Warrington area and disagreed with Mr Whyte's assessment.
He believed the ground conditions were very dry.
''You can say the grass in the area is lush and green but we had a fire out there last weekend where it was like that.
''We had to put a helicopter on it and it was only because of a slight change in the wind that we didn't have to chase it right up to the top of the hill.
''Green grass will still burn if there's a bit of wind behind it.''
