The comment comes from Victoria Police's Assistant Commissioner Michael Grainger, from the state emergencies and support command, as the organisation launched annual operation 'Safeguard' this week.

The operation involves police focusing their efforts on preventing, investigating and catching those responsible for intentionally or recklessly lighting fires during the warmer months of the year, Assistant Commissioner Grainger said.

While most fires are caused by natural causes, such as lightning strikes, he said a concerning number were also started by reckless activity in recent years. Sometimes fires are also deliberately lit.

According to data from the Country Fire Authority, in the last 10 years firefighters have responded to an average of 830 recklessly lit fires across the state each year. That's almost 10,000 fires that community members have left their homes or workplaces to turn out to protect their communities from.

About a quarter of these fires were caused by campfires or burn-offs that were not properly extinguished.

Assistant Commissioner Grainger said as recently as last weekend the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning had located campfires in the area that had not been properly extinguished.

Last bushfire season police laid 26 charges for reckless fire-related offences, with the most common regarding burning off, campfires, bonfires and flares, using farming machinery such as slashers and harvesters or angle grinders or welding equipment out in the open.

"Having been through the tragic events of 2019-20, we know the impact fires can have in our community - tragically we lost five people last year," Assistant Commissioner Grainger said.

He encouraged people to be aware of the weather conditions and to be responsible to prevent inadvertently starting a fire.

"No one wants to be responsible for starting a fire that destroys property or ends the lives of others.

"We need to look out for each other but also hold each other to account when it comes to the behaviours that could lead to bushfires - we are all in this together."

CFA Assistant Chief Fire Officer for District 16, Bernie Fradd, said that whether deliberately or recklessly lit, the results of a fire were the same - in bad weather conditions, they could have devastating consequences.

He implored people to take care this fire season - whether when using mowers or slashers to cut long grass around the home, when harvesting crops or when camping out in the bush.

Always extinguish a campfire with water and take time to ensure burn-offs are completely extinguished on the day and the days after it is conducted.

Strathkellar farmer and CFA volunteer, Don Robertson, knows all too well how easily farm machinery can catch fire.

Back in 2018, he was using a harvester when the implement on the back of his harvester started a fire.

He was fortunate to have fire suppression equipment at hand, including a fire unit in the paddock he was working in. With assistance of the local CFA crew and firefighting aircraft, he was able to contain the blaze. While able to save the machine, he lost 20 hectares of crop.

It wasn't an overly warm or windy day and he was well prepared, but knows that if the situation occurred on a day of total fire ban that it could have been a different ending.

He encouraged people to be prepared for fires - wear suitable clothing and footwear, have fire suppression equipment at hand and preferably a fire unit with capacity of 600-800 litres too, as well as having another person nearby to assist and a phone to call emergency services if required.

Assistant Commissioner Grainger said police would have a visible police presence in fire-prone areas throughout the operation.

"On high risk fire danger days, you will see additional police out on those roads where you might not normally see the police," he said, adding police may even pull people over and ask why they are travelling on a back road.

While police investigate suspicious behaviour year-round, Assistant Commissioner Grainger encouraged people to report any reckless or suspicious behaviour to police this fire season.

"We are watching for suspicious behaviour 24/7, but so is the community," he said.

Operation Safeguard runs from mid-November 2020 until March 2021.

Lighting a fire on a total fire ban day can attract a fine of up to $39,000 or up to two years in jail.

Anyone found guilty of recklessly or intentionally causing a bushfire faces a penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment.

Anyone who witnesses suspicious behaviour as it is occurring should call Triple Zero (000) and anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.