Safe Burning

Control Measures

Before lighting any fire, a permit holder must take precautions to ensure that the fire is kept under control at all times.

Fires must not be lit when weather conditions are conducive to fires escaping or getting out of control. Contact your nearest fire guardian for specific advice. No one may deposit, discard, or leave any burning material in a place where it may ignite and result in a fire.

Burning Barrel Safety

Burn with extreme care or haul debris to a transfer/landfill site,
The burning barrel should be in good condition,
The ground must be free of combustible material within a 3m radius,
Help combustion. Steel rods, or pipes that cross through the barrel, will hold burning material up and give a better burn,
Draft holes must not be larger than 5mm in diameter,
The mesh screen cover must not have openings larger than 7mm,
Use weights to hold the screen on barrel, and
Keep firefighting tools on hand and never leave your fire unattended.

What Can I Burn?

Burnable debris means all inflammable waste (not prohibited debris) and includes but is not limited to grass and weeds, leaves and tree pruning, brush and fallen trees on newly cleared land, telephone poles and wooden materials from the construction or demolition of buildings that do not contain wood preservatives, solid waste from tree harvesting operations, solid waste from post and pole operations that do not contain wood preservatives.

Prohibited debris means any inflammable waste that when burned, may result in the release to the atmosphere of dense black smoke or toxic substances. This includes but is not limited to animal manure; pathological waste; non-wooden material; combustible material; tires, rubber, and plastic; and used oil.

Brush Pile Safety

Ensure debris or windrows resulting from land clearing are no more than 60m long. Leave an 8m break between each 60m length. Ensure windrows are at least 25m away from unclear land or standing hazardous fuels. Keep fire fighting tools on hand and never leave your fire unattended.

When your burn is completed, speed up final extinguishing by dispersing any smoldering ash or accumulation of burned debris. Fires can remain dormant in large piles for long periods and usually surface when fire hazard conditions are extreme.

Persistent hot spots left to burn out must be well guarded. When the weather gets dry, any holdover fire must be put out. Continue to check completed burning projects to be sure no holdover fires are present.