For the first time in five years, a total fire ban is about to be imposed over four-fifths of the Dunedin city area.
The ban, which comes into effect from midnight tonight, will include all land within the city council boundaries, from Henley in the south to Hyde in the north, and all of the Otago Peninsula.
Principal Rural Fire Officer Graeme Still said yesterday the only part of the city exempt from the ban would be the northern coastal zone, from Leith Saddle to just north of Waikouaiti.
The permanent ban on fires in urban Dunedin and Mosgiel would continue, he said.
A prohibited fire season was about to be notified by the Department of Conservation and would come into effect at midnight on Monday, Otago Coastal Rural Fire Officer John Pearce said yesterday.
It would cover conservation estate land between the Beaumont bridge and the Waitaki River, and any privately owned land within 1km of a conservation estate boundary, he said.
Doc Central Otago and the Central Otago District Council also imposed total fire bans last Thursday, meaning there will soon be virtually a total fire ban across Otago from east of the main divide to the coast.
The bans mean no fires of any kind are allowed, including charcoal or wood-fired barbecues, braziers and incinerators.
All fire permits already issued in the regions were being cancelled, the men said.
Because some rain had fallen in Otago in recent weeks, people did not realise how quickly vegetation was drying out, Mr Still said.
"We need significant rain . . . and so far we've only had showers. And we have had lots of wind, which has evaporated any moisture."
While the city had come close to total fire bans in other years, such a ban had not been imposed since the summer of 2004, he said.
Doc had stopped issuing fire permits in the coastal conservancy a week ago, Mr Pearce said.
Restricted fire seasons are in place in Waitaki, Clutha and the Queenstown Lakes districts.
But total bans are likely next week unless there is significant rain.
