A total fire ban will be in place across the entire Auckland region and north Waikato from Tuesday morning.
A long warm spell with no significant rainfall is causing worries about the fire danger for the Auckland region. Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
The fire season status is being upgraded from restricted to prohibited, Fire and Emergency said.
That means any current fire permits for the area will be suspended.
AUCKLAND FIRE BAN: All fires are prohibited in the Auckland region and North Waikato from 8am Tuesday 28 January 2020
— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) January 24, 2020
NO FIRES are permitted unless it is an approved fire type (for cooking purposes)
Visit https://t.co/JiTc1vztCm to see which fires are allowed during this time pic.twitter.com/2h276KJDao
Principal rural fire officer Thomas Harre said the region was very dry, after a prolonged warm spell with no significant rainfall.
There have been a couple of close calls with potentially dangerous fires recently, but crews have done a good job to bring them under control.
With hot temperatures forecast over the long anniversary weekend, Harre is urging people to be vigilant.
"We remind people just to make sure that they're not necessarily doing anything that would create a spark like mowing or ploughing," he said.
A total fire ban is already in place in Northland.
There has been a prohibited fire ban across all the islands of the Hauraki Gulf since the end of November.
