No fires allowed
Waikato District Council has stopped issuing fire permits because of the extreme fire risk.
The ban means no fires can be lit in the open until further notice.
The council will be in contact with anyone who has already applied for a permit.
In the meantime locals are advised to play it safe and before lighting a fire, ask the council for more information.
Permits are not required for fires lit in barbecues, incinerators, cooking fires and garden rubbish fires that are less than one cubic metre in size.
Check out this story in the Waikato Times to see how dry it has been.
Responsibilities when lighting a fire:
If you light a fire you are responsible and held accountable for the costs if it escapes your control and causes damage, regardless of whether or not you have a permit. Escaped fires have cost people responsible for lighting them from $1000 to $250,000 in fire fighting costs.
It is your responsibility to ensure the fire is not left unsupervised while burning, and is completely extinguished before leaving the burn site.
For all campfires, cooking fires, braziers, rubbish fires, controlled burn-offs, and prescribed burns, a minimum of three metres clearance must be made surrounding the fire.
