Dry and windy conditions, low humidity and little rain forecast in the next week means much of Otago poses an extreme fire danger, Otago Rural Fire Authority deputy principal rural fire officer Jamie Cowan says.
Yesterday humidity levels as low as 12% were recorded in Wanaka, while temperatures soared throughout the region, reaching 33degC in Alexandra.
''In those conditions any spark is most likely going to cause a fire and if you add the wind to that it can get bad,'' he said.
The fire authority has fought 25 vegetation fires since Christmas Day, including one that burnt 8ha of grassland near Tarras.
The fires had been attributed to various causes but one causing frustration was cigarette butts. Several fires were started by discarded cigarettes and, while it was more careless than callous, the outcome could be harmful.
''Use common sense,'' Mr Cowan said.
''If you do light a fire, do it very early in the day when conditions are at their coolest or, better yet, don't do it at all.''
Central Otago remained in a prohibited fire season and Coastal Otago and Southern Lakes were in restricted fire seasons, with fires only allowed under permit.
''We are being pretty cautious about what permits are going out at the moment and if this dry weather persists those areas could end up in a prohibited fire season as well,'' he said.
''I can't see any significant reprieve for at least the next week.''
MetService duty meteorologist Chelsea Glue said many areas in Otago experienced little rain last month and little was forecast for the immediate future.
The weather station at Dunedin International Airport recorded 31.2mm of rain in December, less than half the historical average of 66.9mm for the month.
In Queenstown 33.4mm of rain fell last month - of which 20.8mm fell on New Year's Eve - while the historical average in 74.8mm. And in Oamaru only 25.6mm fell, little more than half of the historical average of 48.2mm.
''It is quite dry at the moment [in Otago],'' Mrs Glue said.
A front should bring some scattered showers to the region today but nothing that would impact on the fire danger.
The rest of the week would see little to no rain, she said.
''Some places won't get any.''
A ''Hotspot Watch'', released by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) in mid-December, showed soils in most of Otago were 20-30mm drier than normal, with northern Otago particularly dry.
Mr Cowan said that meant any fire presented a huge risk.
It was only luck that had prevented a serious fire, such as the one which burned in South Canterbury yesterday, from affecting Otago, he said.
Firefighters from Twizel, Tekapo, Omarama and Burkes Pass battled a vegetation fire near Twizel for more than two hours yesterday afternoon.
About 30 firefighters and two helicopters fought the blaze, which burnt about 20ha, with homes evacuated and roads closed in the surrounding area.
''It was a fire that had potential [to be dangerous],'' a Fire Service spokesman said.
''It was uncontained and quite large.''
The fire was under control by about 8pm last night.
Firefighters fought several vegetation fires in Otago yesterday, including a 300m by 200m grass fire near Enfield.
Those fires followed one that gutted a beekeeper's shed in Alexandra and another that caused fatal injuries to a 70-year-old man in Nightcaps on Friday.
