Tasman and Nelson landowners asked to delay outdoor burning

2 Mahuru 2021

Landowners in the Tasman and Nelson districts are being asked to delay lighting non-essential fires while the area remains in COVID Alert Level 3.

Principal Rural Fire Officer Ian Reade says orchardists and others holding fire permits have begun taking advantage of favourable weather conditions to light up.

He is asking those who have existing permits to hold off lighting fires a little longer until level 2 unless it is genuinely urgent, to minimise the risk of firefighters having to leave their bubble to respond to non-essential fires.

In those cases, they should first contact the Fire and Emergency Communications Centre on the number listed in their fire permit, so the fires are logged. This will avoid brigades being called out unnecessarily when concerned members of the public ring 111 to report seeing smoke.

While firefighters will always respond to 111 calls and have the protective gear and procedures to do this safely in lockdown, Fire and Emergency is encouraging the community to support efforts to reduce the number of call-outs during the COVID response.