Dry spell fear - fire takes hours to quell

Dry paddocks near Waipukurau, Central Hawke's Bay.

Forest crews and rural firefighters were last night still at a forest and grass fire which had been burning for more than six hours in a remote corner of Northern Hawke's Bay.

The fire in a DoC block near Tuai was reported to the Fire Service at 10.24am. It was brought under control by late afternoon, although it was understood to be still burning.

The day saw dry, hot conditions with a high of 27C.

A helicopter was used to help fight the fire, which came a day after two other rural fires in Hawke's Bay, and on a day when rural fire authorities ordered restricted fire seasons which mean that from this weekend permits will be needed to light any fire in the open in Hawke's Bay.

Monday's blazes included the destruction of a woolshed near Dannevirke in a fire Tararua district deputy principal fire officer Paddy Driver says is thought to have been caused by a grass fire.

A total fire ban has been enforced by the Hastings District Council on all beaches and public spaces since late last month, but no ban is in place in the Wairoa district.

Deputy principal fire officer Michael Walker said the sun and wind had dried-off much of his district quickly, and it was becoming particularly dry in the Mahia area, where homes had to be evacuated as fire spread over 140ha of scrub and grassland in February 2009.

Tararua escaped last summer without the need for a restricted fire season and Mr Driver said he was surprised by the swift drying of conditions in the area in recent days.

"In the last 10 days it [the fire danger] has gone from low to high, and it could be very high to extreme in a very short time," he said. "It's a bit of a funny one this year."

Meanwhile, the Wairoa Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Grant Duley says residents using a garden hose yesterday stopped fire from destroying a caravan where a woman lives in the town.

The woman was not present at the time when neighbours reported the fire at a property in Black St about 2.15pm.

"They did a good job," said Mr Duley.

The fire was confined mainly to a verandah attached to the caravan.

A brief respite from dry conditions is expected today, MetService says, with showers, some heavy, set to arrive in the afternoon and evening.