People in Hawke's Bay are still lighting fires, despite total fire ban

People are lighting "controlled" fires in tinder-dry Hawke's Bay, despite a total fire ban, firefighters say.

A Fire and Emergency spokeswoman said they had been called out to multiple controlled fires across the region over the past few days, which had to be immediately extinguished due to the region wide fire ban.

She said that people need to follow the ban and limit any possible risk of fires breaking out as the conditions make it extremely dangerous.

The conditions were highlighted again on Thursday night as local Wairoa and forestry fire crews fought two separate scrub fires in close proximity to each other.

The first, about 11.30pm on Thursday night, was off Ruapapa Rd, with fire crews managing to get it under control after about half an hour.

The second blaze was just off Lake Rd, near the sight of the first fire, about 4am on Friday morning. Crews managed to extinguish and gather control of the blaze after an hour.

The spokeswoman said crews returned to both sites later on Friday morning to make sure no hot spots occurred as with the heat and dry conditions, the fires could easily set off again.