Hot, dry and windy conditions are raising the risk of wildfires across the motu. Photo: 123rf.com
New Zealand has dodged a bullet this weekend despite hot, dry and windy conditions, says a wildfire specialist.
Most of the South Island is under fire restrictions, or total fire bans while the Wairarapa Coast was shifting to a prohibited fire season from Monday morning due to a very high danger.
Last week, Fire and Emergency said there was an extreme concern about the fire risk over the weekend, with areas like the Mackenzie Basin were ready to burn.
Fire and Emergency national wildfire specialist Paul Shaw said South Island fire crews responded to 14 vegetation fires on Saturday alone.
"When you have a dry summer, that number of callouts is not unusual for a midsummer's period," Shaw said.
"I think we got away with it over the weekend fairly well, and it sounds like the public in the Mackenzie Basin have been really good and have done the right things, and we've dodged a bullet."
Residents could help to make their properties easier to defend by clearing flammable material from 10 metres around the building, moving firewood stacked against houses, cleaning out gutters, trimming trees and bushes and removing the trimmings, and keeping their grass short with a nylon-line trimmer.