Bush and scrub fires on the scale of those seen in Australia and Canterbury this week are unlikely to happen in the Western Bay of Plenty.
Barry Low, principal rural fire officer for the Western Bay Moana Rural Fire Authority, said while it could not be ruled out, the conditions in the region meant there was only a low to moderate risk.
"Australia has got a totally different fire climate to us. The landscape is very dry and it is vegetated with eucalyptus trees, which are full of oil, a very volatile fuel that burns extremely hot and extremely fast. The other difference is they have a much hotter and dryer summer than we have so the fuels dry out extremely fast," he explained.
The fast-moving Canterbury fires were fanned by warm, dry, north-westerly winds, that also rapidly dried out vegetation, he added.
The predominant wind in the Western Bay was westerly and the climate was generally more humid.