A fire ban will be in place in Central Otago from tomorrow until January 6, or longer if the area remains dry.
Central Otago principal rural fire officer Owen Burgess said no fire permits would be issued by the district council or the Department of Conservation within that time and any outstanding fire permits were cancelled for that period.
The reasons for the temporary prohibited fire season were three-fold, he said.
''Things are very dry and there's heaps of vegetation around so the fire-loading is very high.''
Secondly, the council and Doc offices would be closed during the holiday break so it would be difficult to process fire permits.
Thirdly, by calling a prohibited fire season it was hoped
volunteer firefighters within the region could have a break without worrying about permitted burns getting out of control, Mr Burgess said.
Despite vegetation looking green in places, it was dry underneath and burnt easily, as evidenced by the fire in the Lindis Pass which burnt 15ha of farmland nearly a fortnight ago.
The cause of that fire was still being investigated, he said. The prohibited fire season meant any fires in the open were banned.
Gas barbecues were permitted but holiday visitors to the area should be aware open fires were prohibited.
''People need to be careful whatever they're doing.
"Even a hot vehicle exhaust on dry grass will start a fire; that's how dry things are.''
The status of the season would be reassessed on January 6.
