Fire permits for Auckland's rural areas are on hold due to dangers posed by dry conditions.
The region's principal rural fire officer Bryan Cartelle said Auckland now has an elevated fire risk as high temperatures continue into March.
"There has been a lack of rain and it is extremely dry out there. It's all building up and it just takes one small spark to set off a blaze," he said.
"For example, we had a case where a quad bike used during weed spraying backfired from the exhaust. The spark emitted started a fire. This just shows how dry it is out there at the moment and why we've made the decision to not issue any fire permits for the foreseeable future."
Outdoor fires in urban areas are not permitted either.
