A Moerewa farmer has appeared in court charged with ignoring fire restrictions and causing a series of blazes, one of which threatened a pine plantation.
Karamea Teneti Davis pleaded not guilty in the Kaikohe District Court on Wednesday to four charges of failing to comply with fire controls.
He was remanded on bail to May 13 for a case review.
Three of the charges relate to lighting fires in a prohibited fire season. The fourth relates to leaving a fire unattended. All the incidents occurred at Davis Rd, southwest of Moerewa.
The biggest fire swept through about 10ha of scrub and manuka, coming within 700m of a large pine forest.
The blaze took several days and tens of thousands of dollars to put out.
Under the Forest and Rural Fire Act, anyone found guilty of breaching a fire ban without a permit can be fined up to $2000 or jailed for up to six months.
Fire authorities can also claim the costs of fighting the blaze.
Dry conditions have seen fire restrictions placed on the Far North in virtually every summer for the past decade and Northern principal rural fire officer Myles Taylor said few people could be unaware of fire bans.