Te Puke firefighters have had 26 callouts so far this year.
By Te Puke fire chief Dale Lindsay
Emergency calls as at February 2: 26
Nine calls in the past fortnight including two vegetation/rubbish fires and one call to power lines down, no action by brigade, a kitten up a tree, and a false alarm at a kiwifruit cool store.
There was one motor vehicle crash, with no-one trapped and little for us to do, and three medical calls to assist St John, sadly all fatal. Our deepest and sincere condolences to all the families impacted.
Backyard burning
In 2018 the Bay of Plenty Regional Council introduced a bylaw for open air burning in its regional plan.
The bylaw means that open air fires (except for cooking fires) cannot be lit on urban properties - defined as “any property that is less than 2ha and is connected to a municipal wastewater system”, or within 100m of a dwelling, without resource consent. The bylaw also states that fires for burning waste on rural properties can only burn dried green waste, paper, cardboard and untreated timber.
We receive many calls to small rubbish fires in town and in almost every case the residents are completely unaware of the bylaw. A fine of $300 can apply and serious offending could result in prosecution.
For further information look for the smoke sense brochure at: https://www.boprc.govt.nz/media/2870/1201-smoke-sense-brochure-d2-web-5.pdf
There are other requirements for rural properties.
If you want to light a fire in open air at your rural property, you need to find out what the current fire season is for your area, and whether you need a fire permit. Fire permits are issued by Fire and Emergency New Zealand and you can find out this information at our website: www.checkitsalright.nz
Keep safe out there.
Check out the Brigade Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Te.Puke.Fire.Brigade
Brigades from Kawerau and Edgecumbe in the Eastern Bay, and Rotoma, are at the scene.