Dry, windy conditions spark special terms for burning
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Credit: Le Photogenic / Shire of Augusta Margaret River.
Special conditions have been declared for the Shire of Augusta Margaret River local government area when the Prohibited Burning Period concludes at midnight tonight, Tuesday 13 March, and the Restricted Burning Period comes into effect.
Due to dry and windy conditions the Shire’s Chief Bushfire Control Officer David Holland has declared the following:
- No Permits to Burn will be issued until further notice.
- No campfires will be permitted until further notice.
- No garden refuse to be burnt until further notice (this includes the 1m3 after 1800 hours)
“The key fire management agencies are in agreement that we should wait until conditions dampen, as fuel loads are still quite dry.
“The strong winds we’ve been experiencing lately will fan any flames and make uncontained fire travel quite quickly so we need to manage that risk.”
Mr Holland said imposing a conditioned Restricted Period, as opposed to simply extending the Prohibited Period, would enable the Shire to adapt and modify requirements as the weather changed.
“We had the option to extend the Prohibited Period but we are only permitted to do this in fortnightly increments, and need to forecast conditions well in advance to allow for a mandatory advertising period,” he said.
“By letting the Restricted Burning Period come into effect we are able to be a lot more reactive and we can modify or lift conditions at a day’s notice.
“We know that people are keen to reduce their fuel loads by burning and we know there is a long range forecast of rain so if that eventuates in sufficient amounts we can reconsider removing the conditions and issuing permits.”
Mr Holland advised the move also aligns the Shire with the neighbouring local government areas with the City of Busselton and the Shire of Nannup both currently declining requests for Permits To Burn.
The City of Busselton is also not allowing the burning of garden refuse.
To keep up to date on changes to fire season information visit www.amrshire.wa.gov.au or contact your local Fire Control Officer as listed in the 2017/18 Fuel Hazard Reduction and Firebreak Notice.
