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“Last Monday we had a fire in Kāeo that narrowly missed people’s homes as it raced up a scrub-covered hill from the beach. This required three helicopters and five trucks.
“On Thursday we had another fire pile that got out of control, requiring a helicopter and four crew members to get the fire under control.
“If it had been windy as well as warm and dry those days, we could have seen much larger forest fires. That is what we are concerned about in the coming days with these circumstances.
“We are closely monitoring weather conditions in Te Tai Tokerau as a dry, windy summer is forecast.
“There are already very high temperatures and low humidity, which can cause fires to start very easily and create a lot of dry vegetation that burns quickly,” Henwood said.
“Windy conditions are a clear signal not to light fires and to check old burn sites to ensure they do not reignite.
“The last thing we want to see is our Whenua on fire this summer.”
Fire and Emergency has issued similar warnings for other regions, with restrictions tightened in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti, likely to be quickly followed by Northland, Wairarapa, Canterbury and Mid-South Canterbury.
Wildfire manager Tim Mitchell said: “The Canterbury Fires and Otago in recent days have painted a grim picture of what we will see in drier parts of the country if people are not careful about fires or spark generation.”
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