TWO more areas in the Wimmera will enter into the Fire Danger Period soon, including the remainder of Horsham Rural City Council.
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Horsham South and West Wimmera Shire Council South will enter into the period on November 26.
Country Fire Authority District 17 operations manager Craig Brittain said restrictions had come into place across the region earlier than usual.
“There is now restrictions on everything we do now. Pretty much it comes down to the fact that you can’t light a fire or keep a fire alight unless you have a permit first and meet certain requirements,” he said.
“With the Zero Tolerance Strategy this year, which is a Victoria Police and CFA collaborative approach based on community feedback, we will be focusing on prosecuting people who are complacent, negligent or who deliberately light fires.
“The CFA attends and investigate fires to determine whether they are illegal, while Victoria Police prosecute people if the fire was illegal.”
Victoria Police Grampians regional emergency management acting inspector Brendan Broadbent said fines would be issued to anyone caught doing the wrong thing.
“It’s about raising the expectations of the general community to look at people who are lighting fires with ignorance about the conditions and say that they won’t stand for it,” he said.
“We want to change the culture around the expectations of the community and indict to them that we’re going to enhance our operations for all fires. If the outcome is that they are deliberately lit or there have been breaches, then those people responsible will be charged.”
During the Fire Danger Period fires cannot be lit in the open air without a written permit from CFA or a Municipal Fire Prevention Officer.
If you wish to use fire to clean up around your property, register with the VicFire Burn-off notification line on 1800 668 511.
More information can be found on the CFA’s website.