Rotorua residents are being urged to take extra care when lighting their barbecues, bonfires or cigarettes during the drier months, following a series of recent scrub fires.
Firefighters were called to a large scrub fire off Te Ngae Rd on Saturday, which ripped through a total of about 150m by 450m of bush.
Despite about 40 firefighters working for hours to contain the fire, many were called back to the site yesterday as the bush began to smoulder again.
Rotorua Fire Service senior station officer Cameron McEwen said because the area underneath the scrub was so dry, fire crews had to keep dousing the area with water to prevent the fire from reigniting.
There was a lot of long grass in the area and with the wind, the smallest of embers could ignite a fire, which could spread rapidly, he said.
There was another fire in the same area about a week earlier, which tore through about 80m by 30m of gorse.
While fire crews were still investigating the cause of Saturday's fire, Mr McEwen said it was a timely reminder for residents to take extra care when handling anything that could potentially start a fire.
The conditions are the moment were very dry and the region had been experiencing some strong winds, he said. Those two factors combined meant the risk of igniting a fire and it spreading was high.
"Even with the slightest bit of a wind and a few embers, a fire can spread, so it's important to be extra careful as we get into the drier season."
Mr McEwen said he advised people not to light bonfires and to be aware of the fire risk when handling anything with an ember, even cigarettes and cigarette butts.
"We have a lot of bush and forest around our beautiful lakes here in Rotorua. It doesn't take much for a fire to start in these areas and to spread, so we advise everyone to be extra careful."
Rotorua weatherman Brian Holden said the region hadn't seen any rain for more than a week.
"There is a bit of rain forecast for later this week, but we don't know until we get it. It might not come."
Mr Holden said the dry start to December was a contrast to last month, which saw rain fall relatively evenly throughout the month.
