DOC imposes total fire bans

A total fire ban has been put in place in two areas of Department of Conservation (DOC) land in the South Island.

The ban in the Mackenzie Basin and the Ashburton Lakes district is due to an extreme fire risk.

Even people who had been granted permits to burn will now have to wait until conditions improved, DOC senior fire officer Tony Teeling said today.

"The effect of the rain we had a few weeks ago has now disappeared and we are rapidly drying out," he said.

Worst affected areas were the Mackenzie Basin and the Ashburton Lakes area, in the foothills inland from Ashburton in Mid Canterbury, as far north as the Rakaia River.

"The ban is being assessed daily and may be extended to other areas of Canterbury if conditions don't improve," Mr Teeling said.

Canterbury DOC staff were on "high alert" and carrying fire kits with them while working in the field so they could respond to fires immediately. An "initial attack team" may be put on standby over the Waitangi holiday this weekend.

Mr Teeling urged anyone seeing a fire to call 111.

- NZPA