The fire service provided the first hour free of charge but, after that, the authority needed to pay, Mr Wishnowsky said.
In rural areas, anyone who started a fire was liable to pay for any costs and damages incurred.
"It's simply a case of causing a fire - it's not a case of negligence. It's simply if people light a fire or cause a fire to be lit, then they are responsible for making sure that fire is kept under control and they are responsible for making sure they put the fire out."
It was important people made sure they had the right sort of insurance or they could be faced with a bill that could potentially bankrupt them.
"We need to seek cost recovery, because those costs have been paid for by rural ratepayers, and it's unfair for them to have to pay for suppression costs for putting out fires that could have been avoided by people being more careful and more responsible."
Not making adequate preparations, such as putting in fire breaks or areas without fuel, starting fires during unfavourable weather conditions, leaving fires unattended and not extinguishing fires properly were common mistakes.
There were more than 160 rural fires during the past year, many of which were caused by mowers or farmers topping paddocks. The authority operated on a "shoestring" budget, Mr Wishnowsky said.
"It would be nice to be able to afford better equipment and resources, but we have to balance what would be nice to have against what the ratepayers could fairly and reasonably be expected to pay for.
"If the rural community wants a better rural fire response, then those communities need to fund those better resources." The authority had previously met the Tararua Rural Fire Authority to discuss a possible amalgamation but nothing had come of the discussions as yet.
