And in the wake of a burnoff gone wrong at Tokarahi last weekend, Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) is warning the entire Otago region is already very vulnerable.
Fenz incident commander Bobby Lamon this week described the Tokarahi fire as "arduous" after the nor’wester overnight on Friday whipped up flames.
By Sunday, the fire had burnt through about 806ha of high country land.
MetService rain records for the Oamaru area from August 10 until Wednesday show a total of 38.2mm.
Seven fire crews, including those from Weston, Duntroon, Kakanui and Waitaki, were deployed, plus six helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft.
Fenz Waitaki group manager Mike Harrison said the Tokarahi fire was far too early for the time of year.
"We just haven’t had the rainfall we would have expected by now — and we’ve had a pretty dry and cold winter.
"Sometimes the fire danger can be just as big in the winter as summer, plus nor’westers have come earlier this year.
"These high winds have caught a lot of people out," he said.
The earlier nor’westers on the back of a dry winter and slow spring growth were compounding the risk, Mr Harrison said.
Fenz Otago community risk reduction manager James Knapp said it meant landowners should not assume they could just fire their usual spring burnoffs, and the risk was already "high" when the Tokarahi fire started.
"Prior to that large fire, we had noticed a trend of deliberately lit fires for vegetation that had got out of control right across the [Otago] district: 17 fires that have got away on people," he said.
"So we then have required area assists to bring them under control, which is so unusual for this time of year. It’s been a busy start to the fire season."
Of those, 14 were on farms across Otago, which had got out of control "predominantly due to strong wind conditions".
The seasonally "premature flammability of fine fuels due to frost curing and/or moisture deficit" was the other factor, Mr Knapp said.
The fires consisted of three around Dunedin, four in Strath Taieri, two in Clutha, the one in Waitaki, three in Central Otago and one in the Lakes district.
Fenz had issued a warning advisory via Federated Farmers which it hoped would be heeded, Mr Knapp said.
"I don’t think the soil moisture has really recovered from last year’s dryness.
"The single biggest factor seems to be wind — lighting fires on days that are already windy, or ahead of coming strong winds.
"People not looking at the forecast for the next few days, and its coming up and pushing their planned fire into vegetation they didn’t really intend to burn."
It might still be "open fire season" but that did not negate landowner responsibility for caution, he said.
"It’s not a go-for-gold situation: there are some obligations."
Landowners had to ensure the fire remained "under control at all times" and they were not supposed to leave a fire unsupervised to the point it could get out of control.
"Both are legal obligations."
At the same time, "quite significant frost", particularly in the upper Waitaki and in Central Otago over winter, had left large tracts of dry grass.
"Usually that’s fixed by spring rain ... but at the moment, the grass is able to be ignited in relatively cool temperatures."
It was incumbent on landowners to have a strategy for their burn if it went wrong, Mr Knapp said.
"We’re not seeing any great evidence of preparation and planning. I think at this time of year people are thinking they can go out and bowl stuff over and setting it alight."
