No fire restrictions . . . yet till early new year

A cooking fire set fire to vegetation at the end of Kaiti Beach Road last week, sparking a fire callout for Fire and Emergency, and the organisation urges the public to take care with all fires in the open, as the district looks set to remain in an open fire season until early in the new year. Picture supplied

The region looks set to remain in an Open Fire Season until early next year at this stage as the fire risk remains moderate, said Fire and Emergency NZ’s Tairāwhiti community risk manager (CRM) Trudi Hicklin.

This will be the first time for some years that Tairāwhiti has not already been in a Restricted Fire Season in the lead-up to the festive season.

“We are in moderate fire danger level,” CRM Hicklin said.

“There is lots of green vegetation throughout the district and the wet start to summer has sped up grass and vegetation growth.

“But it will quickly dry out across the district due to hot, dry and windy conditions.”

Those hot dry conditions are forecast in the next week.

“That will increase the risk of fires and make them more challenging for the firefighters to extinguish,” she said.

“In Gisborne city we can see it really starting to dry up along Centennial Marine Drive.

“So with the substantial number of people expected to be visiting our district over the festive season we encourage people not to light fires and to be vigilant, as we want to reduce the risk of fire as much as possible.”

In any fire season (open, restricted or prohibited) hāngi and other cultural cooking fires are allowed and no permit is required.

“However, we urge people to have a hose ready on standby and keep the fire at least five metres away from any fence or building.”

Check www.checkitsalright.nz before lighting any type of fire anywhere over the summer, to check the conditions and to check what is allowed in the area

“Stay safe and reduce the risk of fire over summer,” CRM Hicklin said.

“Find out what you need to do before you light a fire outdoors and whether you need a fire permit.”