Cape St. George has banned open fires, following four grass fires the council suspects were deliberately set. (Courtesy of Chasity Lemoine)

The mayor of a small community on Newfoundland's Port au Port Peninsula says he believes four grass fires that were extinguished on Wednesday were deliberately set.

Cape St. George has imposed a ban on open fires, on the heels of four fires that were all set close to houses.

"The fact that there [were] four fires in a row, in the same area, led us to believe that these were no longer accidents anymore and that somebody was deliberately setting them," Mayor Peter Fenwick told CBC News Thursday.

RCMP officers were called to the scene on Wednesday. Fenwick said he saw people led away in handcuffs, but was not certain the arrests were related to the fires.

Council passed a resolution Wednesday that outlaws all open fires.

"Residents in the area where the fires were occurring were extremely upset … it was an extremely disruptive day, and one that we don't want to go through again," Fenwick said.

"It could have been a real disaster and we could have had another Chapel's Cove on our hands," said Fenwick, referring to a wildfire that destroyed two homes and several sheds in the Conception Bay community on Monday.

Fenwick said the Cape St. George volunteer fire department was fully taxed by yesterday’s fires, and that people in the town are nervous about another one. Fenwick said his community, like many others in the province, has come through an "extraordinarily dry winter and a very early spring."

He said the Newfoundland and Labrador government should impose a province-wide ban on open fires immediately.