The end of the danger period means farmers and other landholders will no longer require a permit to burn on their property, but RFS Federation Zone captain Greyd’n Davis said people still needed to notify all their neighbours 24 hours before a burn.
Mr Davis recommended people also fill out the ‘RFS burn notification form’ which can be found online, or notify their local RFS brigade captain.
He said at least one, preferably two, pieces of firefighting equipment were recommended to be on hand while a mineral earth break, even a shovel-made one for small burns, was beneficial.
“Conditions are still dry. There’s still a fair bit of volatility and ‘sting’ in the fuel that’s going to be burnt and it will be like that until we get a decent autumn break,” he said.
“I strongly encourage landholders and people intending to burn or light fires in the open to be incredibly careful. Still have that minimum supply of water with you, something firefighter capable like a tank with an engine function or firefighting pump.
“And burning of any solid fuels – such as timber and large piles that will burn for days on end – probably isn’t advised this early yet due to the dryness, because weather conditions can change quickly.
“If people are going to burn solid fuels, probably check the weather conditions for the two or three days after you burn.”
Mr Davis reminded people that fires that ventured onto someone else’s property became a police matter. He also reminded the general public not to be overzealous in reporting fires to emergency services, saying people shouldn’t report fires just upon sighting smoke.
“If people see fire has escaped onto a road or over a fence, they should call it in,” he said. “But don’t be too alarmed unless you see something unattended.”
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