Firefighters ask people going to the Waipaoa River end of Centennial Marine Drive to ensure that any fishing fires they light get put out properly.

A senior firefighter said they had been called several times in recent weeks to driftwood fires there.

“We get called along there every few days lately,” he said.

“Most of them are minor fires, but we had one this week that was a fairly big one.”

The senior firefighter said people went to the area to go fishing and made fires, but did not put them out properly before leaving.

“We’d ask that they ensure in future that their fires are thoroughly doused with water and properly extinguished.”