Samoa's Fire and Emergency authority has imposed a one-month fire ban across the country after several bush and forest fires were reported in several villages in Upolu and Savaii.
A senior fire officer, Faafouina Mupo, says the shortage of water because drought is is another reason for the ban.
The declaration of the fire ban has come with a strong warning that people face prosecution if they continue to light fires in open land while preparing land for cultivation.
A bush fire in Savaii last week damaged a school building at Vaitoomuli village in Palauli district.
