Hawke's Bay firefighters fear spark from tourists' beach fires could spread

The wildfires near Waimarama left a trail of destruction in 2017. Photo / File

Exasperated firefighters have had enough of tourists lighting fires in beach driftwood in the peak of the Hawke's Bay summer.

Firefighters from across the region have been kept busy the past few weeks dousing the flames of small fires, some of which had the potential to cause serious damage as the region nears "extreme" fire danger.

Hawke's Bay's New Zealand Fire Service area commander Ken Cooper said there was a lot of "careless fire wasting activities" occurring across the region.

There were no fire restrictions in place in urban areas of Hawke's Bay, but the region was the driest it had been all summer and people needed to use their common sense, he said.

Cooper said there was an air of trepidation among firefighters as all eyes were focused on the catastrophic effect of the Nelson fires.

Central Hawke's Bay could have experienced something on a similar scale if volunteer firefighters hadn't managed to stop a 100 metre grass fire in its tracks near State Highway 50 at Tikokino last week, he said.

"It would have been a different story if it had been reported later," Cooper said.

Firefighters were also called to a 15 metre by 5m fire on the Clive riverbank on Sunday evening, which they were able to douse.

"We're now heading into extreme fire danger," Cooper said.

"There's a lot of driftwood on beaches at the moment and people are just lighting rubbish fires in their back yard.

"We've been called to a number of rubbish fires and driftwood fires on beaches.

"Not only is it a big fire risk but it takes volunteer firefighters away from their work and their employers."

Cooper said rural areas, where fire bans were in place, were being extremely compliant.

"We're noticing fires are being lit in residential areas and by tourists.

"For people lighting fires in their back yard, it is a hazard and it has a risk of spreading into other properties.

"We've also got a large rural interface - which means areas where rural properties meet urban properties - if a small fire was to break out there, it could spread and create significant risk to households."

For more information on fire restrictions and safety, visit http://www.checkitsalright.nz.