Rotorua residents are being urged to take extra care when lighting their barbecues, bonfires or cigarettes during the drier months, following a series of recent scrub fires.
Firefighters were called to a large scrub fire off Te Ngae Rd on Saturday, which ripped through a total of about 150m by 450m of bush.
Despite about 40 firefighters working for hours to contain the fire, many were called back to the site yesterday as the bush began to smoulder again.
Rotorua Fire Service senior station officer Cameron McEwen said because the area underneath the scrub was so dry, fire crews had to keep dousing the area with water to prevent the fire from reigniting.
There was a lot of long grass in the area and with the wind, the smallest of embers could ignite a fire, which could spread rapidly, he said.