Firefighters in Stratford are trying to get the word out about how to avoid starting a fire during periods of hot weather.

They say that the current stretch of hot and primarily dry weather is not only uncomfortable, it could be dangerous. Firefighters say to make sure all fires are in designated approved areas and pits.

Drivers shouldn't park their car over tall grass. It is also important to keep cigarette butts in the ashtray.

"That one spark can light up that whole area and that's an ecologically sensitive area between wildlife as well as the dry materials that are near the vegetation,"says Capt. Jermaine Atkinson, of the Stratford Fire Department.

Firefighters say they have also seen a rise in the number of calls for fires that start in garden mulch.