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THE Country Fire Authority has called on people or groups to register planned burns to avoid unnecessary callouts.
District 17 operations manager Alfred Mason’s plea comes after a call-out to what was a controlled burn along the Old Hamilton Road at Haven on Wednesday.
Mr Mason said registering a planned burn would help firefighters in two ways.
“It is important, because if it is (registered with the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority) it will take the stress away from the volunteers (and it won’t) take them away from what they are doing,” he said.
“Another thing is if the brigade in their area is on a fire call, that means the next closest brigade will have to travel to put out the fire.
“It puts pressure on our resources and volunteers if called out to a false alarm.”
Mr Mason said people or groups conducting planned burns should take relevant safety precautions.
“People need to make sure they have the ability to put the fire out if it does get out of control,” he said.
“If it is in a big area, the person may need to create a fire break with a piece of machinery.”
He said planned burns must be arranged well in advance and people conducting them must be aware of the weather conditions of the day.
“If it is going to be a long burn people will need to be aware of the weather conditions in two days’ time,” he said.
Mr Mason said people conducting a planned burn should register it with the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority on 1800 668 511.