Weekend fires lit without permits

Cars rolling, ovens catching fire, and sneaky rubbish-burners all drew Whanganui firefighters out of their station over the weekend.

It began on Friday evening at 9.19 with a toaster on a stove catching fire and leaving a house smoke-logged, Senior Station Officer Jemal Weston said.

Mr Weston could shed no light on why the toaster was on the stove, saying "they don't cook very well".

There were several more callouts over the next few days after people started fires without permits.

One included a bonfire on the beach, while another involved someone burning rubbish in the dark of the night.

"We're getting a lot of people trying to burn at night," Mr Weston said. "They think they can get away with it ... but lots of other people are watching."

For advice on what people could do during the restricted fire season, Mr Weston suggested asking the Whanganui District Council.

Also over the weekend, firefighters headed to the corner of Gonville Ave and Heads Rd where a car had rolled, but members of the public had already righted the car and there were no injuries.

A car doing burnouts and creating clouds of smoke sparked another callout, as well as an oven catching fire.