With Victorians preparing their properties for fire season, emergency services are urging landowners to register their burn-offs online through the Fire Permits Victoria website.
Spring is a common time for landowners to take advantage of the favourable weather conditions to conduct burning off activities. However, in most areas in Victoria, less than 50 per cent are registering their burn-offs online, with many unnecessarily waiting on hold to register over the phone.
In some areas where the highest number of burn-offs are registered each year – such as Healesville, Olinda and Mt Evelyn in the Yarra Ranges, and Kyneton and Woodend in the Macedon Ranges – as many as 60 per cent of registrations are by phone, leading to longer wait times during busy periods.
Triple 000 Victoria chief operating officer Nicole Ashworth said registering burn-offs online was fast, easy and allowed call-takers to focus on higher priority calls.
“Spring is the ideal time to prepare your property ahead of the fire danger period, which makes it one of the busiest times for people registering their burn-offs by phone,” she said.
“That’s why we always urge landowners to plan ahead and save themselves some time by jumping onto the Fire Permits Victoria website and registering well in advance, especially when suitable weather conditions are forecast.”
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the Fire Permits Victoria website is the preferred platform for community members to register their burns.
“Registering your burn-off allows emergency services to verify the fire is not an emergency before unnecessarily calling out local brigades,” he said.
“It also allows us to display burn-offs on the CFA website so the public can see where a burn-off is taking place, preventing needless calls to Triple Zero (000).
“Over the past year, CFA responded to nearly 900 escaped burn-offs, which used around 19,000 hours of our volunteers’ time. Please don’t leave your burn-off unattended and only burn off when conditions are favourable.”
Before you notify about your burn off, make sure to:
– Follow regulations or laws by CFA and local council.
– Notify your neighbours if the burn will generate fire and smoke.
– Check the weather forecast for the day of the activity and a few days afterward.
– Postpone your activity if high fire risk conditions develop.
– Establish a gap in vegetation or fire break of no less than three metres cleared of all flammable material.
– Have enough people to monitor, contain and extinguish the burn safely and effectively.
– Never leave a burn-off unattended.
More information: www.firepermits.vic.gov.au/notify
