Volunteers race to four fires in dried-out Bay

Volunteer firefighters were called to four blazes in Hawke's Bay yesterday as dry weather elevated fire-danger levels and part of the region was officially called a "hotspot" heading towards possible drought.

Highlighting the risks was the biggest of the blazes, a grass and scrub fire which a fire service spokesman said spread from a "backyard" fire into a paddock and pine trees just west of Bridge Pa.

Two fire service appliances, a tanker and two crews from the Hastings District Council-based Heretaunga Rural Fire Force were used to fight the fire after the alarm was raised at 3.16pm. It was extinguished after spreading over an area of close to a hectare.

The first of the calls was at 12.50pm to a rubbish fire off Waitangi Rd, Waimarama.

Another call-out came at 4.30pm to a property about 7km from Taradale on Puketitiri Rd.

At 5.13pm the Otane Volunteer Fire Brigade was called to a burnoff which was reported to have gone out of control at a property off Tod Rd, southeast of Otane.

From this weekend, all of the region from the northern limits of the Wairoa District to the southern limits of the Tararua District are subjected to a Restricted Fire Season notice.

This prohibits the lighting of any fire in the open without a permit.

Yesterday, national climate agency Niwa listed a region covering most of Hawke's Bay south of Napier as a "hotspot" which could be headed for drought if there was no significant rain in the next few weeks.

"Much of the region along and east of the Tararuas, southwest of Napier and northeast of Wellington, is a hotspot as soils in this region have been severely to extremely drier than normal for several weeks," says Niwa's "Hotspot Watch".

"For hotspot regions, sustained rainfall over an extended period of time is needed to return conditions back to normal," Hotspot Watch says.

"Additionally, if current conditions persist or worsen, then drought conditions may be imminent."