A vegetation fire behind the Dunedin Gun Club at Waldronville and a car fire at St Kilda appeared to have been caused by the misuse of fireworks, East Otago fire risk management officer Michael Harrison said.
''In the case of the Waldronville fire, if weather conditions had been slightly different the fire could have escalated into a major blaze.
Based on some of the behaviour shown over the Guy Fawkes period, the fact there were no serious injuries caused by fireworks in the Dunedin and Clutha areas was a case of good luck rather than good management,'' he said.
Firefighters responded to 23 fireworks-related incidents in the fire service's Region 5, which comprised the lower South Island, including Otago.
Of those incidents, 10 occurred in the Dunedin and Clutha districts.
Mr Harrison said there was also a significant increase in vegetation fires during the Guy Fawkes period which could not be directly linked to fireworks, but which were potentially related to them.
Incidents involving fireworks in Dunedin were ''evenly spread'' across the city, in South Dunedin, North Dunedin and Kaikorai Valley, he said.
Firefighters warned people not to store fireworks in their homes, because they were a hazard in cases of fire or if not stored correctly.
''Members of the public are basically storing pyrotechnics and other small explosive devices in their homes and other buildings.
"There is the potential for them to ignite, resulting in a fire and/or enabling a fire to spread rapidly, not to mention the danger they pose to residents and firefighters in a fire situation,'' Mr Harrison said.
If stored, fireworks should be kept in a sealed metal container away from any heat sources or other combustible material.
They should be used extremely carefully, especially during summer when vegetation was dry and burned rapidly.
