Rotorua's rural fire fighters are warning of the risk to property or even loss of life in rural areas if people fail to heed fire warnings.
The call for residents to take particular care in rural areas follows an earlier plea from the Rotorua Fire Service about fire risk in urban areas from barbecues, bonfires or carelessly discarded cigarette butts.
The Rotorua Lakes Council's rural fire team has had to respond to four vegetation fires in the last two weeks alone and there are concerns that weather conditions could result in more fires over summer.
Deputy principal rural fire officer, Richard Horn, is reminding all Rotorua residents of the requirement to obtain a fire permit before lighting any outside fire in rural areas, including barbecues or braziers unless they are gas fuelled.
"Of the four vegetation fires we've had to deal with recently, three of them had the potential to become much bigger and could have got out of hand. Last Saturday we managed to contain one fire to just 2.5 hectares, but it was lucky that there weren't buildings on the property or the consequences could have been much more serious."