Burnoff blues for brigades

By Shaun Inguanzo
ANGRY neighbours and careless burnoffs have forced firefighters to urge residents to act responsibly in the lead up to the summer fire season.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges earlier this month increased its openair burnoff period to encourage residents to clear their debris before a fire danger period is declared by the Country Fire Authority.
The increase from winter burnoff restrictions now permits residents to burn off for five days from Thursday to Monday, for an extra three hours each day, between 10am and 6pm.
But according to local fire authorities, the increase in openair burnoffs can be a headache for volunteers, who are often called out unnecessarily.
CFA region 13 operations officer Tony Bearzatto said it was not unusual for angry neighbours to put a dampener on a burnoff by calling 000.
“People should report fires if they are dangerous, not because people are burningoff, or having a dispute with neighbours,” he said.
“Sometimes people will try and burnoff to clean up, but you get domestics between neighbours and they ring up and say there is a fire next door.
“They call the fire brigade on the pretence there is a fire. I guess the rationale behind it is that they do not want to talk to their neighbour, but it can place an unnecessary burden on the fire brigade.”
Mr Bearzatto said it was also not unusual for people to mistake a smoking burnoff for a fire, creating a false alarm.
“If smoke is rapidly developing it could indicate that the fire may be out of control, but if it is just general smoke developing slowly or maintaining a steady pace, it is not normally a problem,” he said.
Upwey fire captain Peter Marke urged residents to carefully supervise their openair burnoffs following a history of lucky escapes in the area.
“We are called to numerous small burnoffs each year where nearby trees have ignited and where it has been luck, and not good fire management, that buildings have not caught fire,” he said.
Mr Marke described the careless attitude as a nuisance for firefighters who had to respond to any call.
Belgrave fire captain Phil Keep supported Mr Marke’s comments and said his brigade had attended a number of lucky escapes.
“We had an incident one night where someone kept their fire going and it nearly burnt their shed down,” he said.
“The guy met us at the front gate, naked.”
Shire of Yarra Ranges manager of community relations, James Martin, urged residents to observe the new local laws, otherwise they could face fines of up to $2000.
Mr Martin said if residents could not burnoff all their debris, the council’s green waste collection service would run from 7 November to 18 December, with information being dropped in letter boxes two weekends before.
Mr Martin said a second collection period would follow next February and March.
Meanwhile, Mr Bearzatto said the CFA would be responsible for calling a Fire Danger Period, under which all burningoff must cease.
He said anyone found to be burningoff during the declared period would face fines of $5500 and up to 12 months’ imprisonment.