Recent weeks have seen significantly more rain in the Far North than this time last year, but the Northern Rural Fire Authority is getting the message out now - take care when lighting fires, and don't light them at all during a restricted or closed season.
An early warning was provided by a blaze off State Highway 12 at Waima three weeks ago, the flames destroying approximately 1.5 hectares of scrub behind the Goldfish Cafe.
Appliances from the Rawene and Kaikohe fire brigades responded, the blaze at one point threatening a house that was separated from the fire only by the road.
A light but variable wind added to the intensity and unpredictability of the fire, principal rural fire officer Myles Taylor said, and it was the good work of both brigades that contained then extinguished it, after some two hours.
The exact cause of the fire was not known, but Mr Taylor suggested it was fair to say that carelessness had been a factor. And it was a timely reminder of how easy it was for wildfires to get away.