Total fire ban after dry weather
Northlanders are being asked to ‘‘hold off lighting fires’’ as the whole region enters a prohibited fire season.
This means no open-air fires are allowed, and all existing fire permits are suspended.
‘‘Please hold off lighting your fires until the weather conditions have changed and the risk of wildfires has minimised,’’ said Fire and Emergency NZ’s Northland district manager Wipari Henwood.
The change brings the whole of Northland in line with the area north of Awaui to Cape Rēinga and the Karikari Peninsula, which is already in a prohibited fire season.
The heightening of fire restrictions comes during Northland’s worst fire season in decades, with over 3000 hectares of land burnt.
The Waiharara fire, the biggest in the area since 1988, is predicted to keep burning until the middle of winter.
It has engulfed 2400ha of wetland, which could take up to 15 years for the ecosystem to recover.
Numerous smaller vegetation fires have also plagued the region, causing residents to evacuate their homes.
‘‘Northland currently has five active wildfires that are contained but still burning in the middle and a history of significant fires at this time of the year,’’ Henwood said.
High winds and no rain were deciding factors in the step-up in fire restrictions, Henwood said.
‘‘Northland’s weather forecast sees little to no rain for the next two weeks and, on top of that, a continuation of drying winds across all of the district,’’ he said.
The fire service is also needed to respond to other emergencies. ‘‘As the surge of Omicron increases, we want to make sure we have full capability to respond to emergencies across Northland,’’ Henwood said.
‘‘By mitigating and reducing the risk of wildfire spread across our communities with a prohibited fire season, we can continue to do that.’’
Auckland and Mackenzie Basin are in a restricted fire season, meaning people in those areas will need a permit to light an open-air fire, which can be applied for at www.checkitsalright.nz.