FENZ to visit Canterbury property owners, after burn-offs get out of control

Fire and Emergency staff are visiting Canterbury property owners responsible for burn-offs that caused fires in hot and windy weather.

District commander Dave Stackhouse said fires from 11 burn-piles quickly spread in strong nor-westerly winds on Saturday, 20 June, leaving firefighters stretched to levels normally only seen in mid-summer.

"I am very disappointed at the number of fires that had been left unattended," he said. "If it hadn't rained later on Saturday, we would have been calling on brigades from other districts to assist."

MetService had issued an orange strong wind warning for the Canterbury Plains, Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, with the city hitting 24.7 degrees, the highest ever recorded for June.

Stackhouse said the winds were well forecast, so should not have caught anyone by surprise.

"As it was, almost every fire brigade in Canterbury was called out, so volunteers were called away from their families and Saturday activities for fires that were mostly completely avoidable," he said.

Canterbury was in an open fire season, which meant permits were not required for outdoor fires, although landowners were always responsible for the fires they lit on their properties, including forestry managers.

Individual penalties for letting a fire get out of control include a fine of up to $300,000 and up to two years' jail.

Stackhouse said at least one of the weekend fires was on a property where a land management fire had escaped within the last year.