Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Te Hiku Region (Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Te Tai Tokerau Northland) moves to a restricted fire season from 0700 Wednesday 14 February, until further notice.

A restricted season means no open-air fires can be legally lit unless a fire permit has been applied for and approved by Fire and Emergency.

The restricted fire season covers the whole of Northland south of the Muri Whenua Zone, which is in a prohibited fire season with its boundary being as follows: Northern side of State Highway (SH) 10 from Taipa to Awanui, west of SH1 to Kaitaia, north side of Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd to Wainui, west side of Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd Wainui to Herekino, north side of the Herekino harbour.

The restricted fire season covers the entire Auckland Region (excluding the Hauraki Gulf Islands which are in a prohibited fire season) and parts of North Waikato.

Declaring the restricted fire season, Te Hiku Region Manager Ron Devlin says the high westerly winds are already causing "spike days" to occur in Northland where the fire danger is hitting the highest level of "extreme."

"There is a major risk in our Te Tai Tokerau Northland District of a fire occurring that will be very difficult to control," he says.

"For the greater Auckland area, weather forecasts show there is very little to no rain in the next 7 days with a long-range forecast of warmer temperatures.

"It is also forecast that from February to March, the fire season will have forty per cent less rain than normal with a greater wind speed which means the fire danger will be slightly above normal.

"As we have seen with recent fires, it takes a large number of our fire brigades, many of whom are volunteer, with supporting resources and aircraft to contain and control wildfires."

The most recent large wildfire in Northland was in March 2023 near Cape Reinga. It took eight days to extinguish at a cost of more than $1.5 million. The fire near Waiharara in 2021/2022 burnt for 50 days at a cost of more than $10 million.

"It’s these sorts of fires which we are trying to avoid by implementing a restricted fire season now," Ron Devlin says.

We are asking anyone considering lighting a fire to please check the current fire season status by visiting www.checkitsalright.nz to check if they can light a fire. This tool enables you to check what fire season your area is in, as well as providing safety tips if you are able to light a fire, and access to apply for a fire permit if one is required.

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