Important Dates
The Fire Management Notice outlines the prohibited and restricted burning times in the North East and South West Sectors.
To identify your Brigade Sector refer to the Brigade & Sector Boundary or contact your closest Bushfire Brigade Fire Control Officer Click Here.
The City of Albany may vary a requirement of conditions of the Notice at it's discretion, by providing a Variation to the Fire Management Notice of Prohibited or Restricted burning times depending on weather conditions, so please check this website regularly for any changes.
AMENDMENT TO PROHIBITED BURNING DATES - Updated 16/04/2024
Be advised that the South West Sector Prohibited Burning Time and Restricted Burning Permit times have changed.
The Prohibited Burning period has been extended up to and including the 15 April 2024.
The Restricted Burning permit period will commence on the 16 April 2024.
Be advised that the North East Sector Prohibited Burning Time and Restricted Burning Permit times have changed.
The Prohibited Burning period has been extended up to and including the 14 March 2024.
The Restricted Burning permit period will commence on the 15 March 2024.
| South West Sector Fire Season |
|
1 November 2023 - 15 November 2023
|
Restricted Burning permits required |
| 1 December 2023 |
Requirements of Fire Notice MUST be in place and maintained |
|
15 November 2023 - 15 April 2024
|
PROHIBITED BURNING |
|
16 April 2024 - 14 May 2024
|
Restricted Burning permits required |
| North East Sector Fire Season |
|
1 October 2023 - 14 November 2023
|
Restricted Burning permits required |
| 1 October 2023 |
Requirements of Fire Notice MUST be in place and maintained |
15 November 2023 - 14 March 2024
|
PROHIBITED BURNING |
| 15 March 2024 - 30 April 2024 |
Restricted Burning permits required |
Emergency Information and Contacts
Report a Fire: 000
Fire information: www.emergency.wa.gov.au
Weather information: http://www.bom.gov.au/
Live to air information: ABC Radio (AM 648)
Australian Fire Danger Rating System
The Fire Danger Rating system is a national initiative to ensure Fire Danger Ratings are communicated consistently across Australia.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) created a new system with greater ability to predict fire behaviour with increased accuracy.
The Fire Danger Rating system applies the latest scientific information about weather, fuel and how fire behaves in different types of vegetation to improve the reliability of fire danger forecasts. Click here for a printable Australian Fire Danger Rating System information sheet
Permits To Burn
If you want to light a fire during the Restricted Burning times, you must obtain a permit.
City land owners or occupiers are not required to obtain a permit to burn outside the prohibited or restricted burning dates but are required to burn responsibly and follow the guidelines provided at the DFES website.
Permits to burn are issued subject to certain conditions which are listed on the permit. Failure to comply with all of these conditions may result in a fine of $250. All permit holders must comply with the requirements of the Bush Fire Act 1954.
Due to ongoing dry conditions and recent fire events during 2023/2024, permits will not be issued within the South West Sector, for the purposes of:
- burning materials that can be disposed of in a green-waste bin (domestic waste or green waste)
- bonfires
- timber heaps
- on Good Friday to Easter Monday (inclusive)
The City of Albany and the Bushfire Brigades will only consider permits in the South West Sector for:
- essential agricultural purposes, that cannot be delayed until later in the season.
A Permit to Burn can only be issued by a City of Albany authorised Bushfire Brigade Fire Control Officer (FCO). To identify your brigade FCO, you will need to:
- Identify who your Brigade Sector is - Gazetted townsite, North East or South West
- Identify who your local Volunteer Bushfire Brigade is - City, Bornholm, Napier, Kalgan etc
To locate your Brigade Sector, local Volunteer Bushfire Brigade or Fire Control Officers are click here.
To view approved Permits to Burn within the City of Albany Gazetted townsite, North East or South West Sectors, visit Burn Permit Map.
The City of Albany encourage residents and visitors to our region to stay up to date with the DFES Emergency WA incidents and warnings page at DFES website.
Please consider your neighbours when undertaking a burn and make sure that smoke doesn't drift onto roads causing a traffic hazard.
Permit to Burn in the City of Albany Gazetted Townsite
Due to ongoing dry conditions and recent fire events during 2023/2024, permits will not be issued within the South West Sector, for the purposes of:
- burning materials that can be disposed of in a green-waste bin (domestic waste or green waste)
- bonfires
- timber heaps
- on Good Friday to Easter Monday (inclusive)
The City of Albany and the Bushfire Brigades will only consider permits in the South West Sector for:
- essential agricultural purposes, that cannot be delayed until later in the season.
To apply for a Permit to Burn in the DFES Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) district (the Albany town site and close adjacent areas) you need to:
Permit to Burn in the North East and South West Sector
To apply for a Permit to Burn in the North East and South West Sectors you need to:
- Contact your Brigade Fire Control Officer (FCO) Here.
Prescribed Burns
Fuels that feed fire have built up considerably since settlement, and ostensibly changed the dynamic of the local bush, as fire has been excluded. Fire is used in a manner to restore balance to our ecosystems, as well as reduce risk to the community and the environment.
The City utilises a number of methods to control or manage fuel levels. Prescribed burning is only one option and is only considered where other options are less effective, less efficient or too costly.
If residents wish to have their local fire brigade assist them with conducting a hazard reduction burn you need to:
Total Fire and Movement Ban Information
TOTAL FIRE BAN
A Total Fire Ban (TFB) may be declared by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) on days when fires are most likely to threaten lives and property. This is because of predicted adverse fire weather or when widespread fires are impacting the availability of resources.
During a TFB, the lighting of any fire in the open air is prohibited. This includes all open cooking and camping fires and incinerators. It also includes ‘hot work’ such as welding, grinding and soldering or gas cutting. The penalty is a fine of $25,000 or imprisonment for 12 months, or both.
TFBs are announced on the DFES website, on ABC Radio and the DFES Twitter feed. Exemptions may be available. You can find out more about TFBs by visiting the DFES website.
HARVEST AND VEHICLE MOVEMENT BANS
The City of Albany may impose Harvest and/or Vehicle Movement Bans when adverse fire weather conditions are experienced. The City will consult with Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades' weather officers to determine if a ban is warranted.
During harvest bans all harvesting operations must immediately cease. No harvesting is permitted on Christmas Day.
A vehicle movement ban means no internal combustion powered vehicles are to be driven in paddocks or bush areas and ‘hot work’ such as welding or grinding is not to be undertaken in the open air.
FIRE BAN COMMUNICATIONS
The City of Albany will endeavour to communicate broadly when a ban is imposed. However, it is the responsibility of landowners and occupiers to check if bans are in place before engaging in any activity that may be prohibited for the duration of the ban.
All bans will be communicated via ABC local radio on 558AM or 630AM 10:05am, 12:35pm and 2:05pm.
If you are a farmer or a contractor and would like to receive notification by SMS notification of Harvest or Vehicle Movement Bans direct to your mobile phone email [email protected] with your name, organisation name and mobile number.
Guidelines for Operating Private Equipment at Fires
These guidelines have been developed to help you understand your responsibilities when fighting fires on or near your land and are available for download here.
In many parts of WA, private equipment is an essential part of the community’s response to fire. A key principle of this community response is that it be done with safety as the number one priority. Your safety at fires is your responsibility. However, Fire Services are committed to working with residents operating private equipment to ensure safety is at the front of everyone’s mind during bushfires.
The guideline promote the safe, efficient, effective and cooperative involvement of private equipment to control a fire in the shortest possible time. It also provides private equipment operators information so that they can make informed decisions about their actions, based on their knowledge of their capabilities and that of their equipment, to ensure the tasks undertaken are appropriate and safely performed.
Bushfire Resilience in the Great Southern (BRIGS)
August 2020 Presentation
Below are PDF versions of the presentations that were recently given in regards to local efforts to build bushfire resilience.
These presentations aim to give a better understanding of your bushfire risk, what you can do to improve it and what Local Government and other agencies can and can't do to help. The BRIGS projects will allow residents to better understand bushfire risk and to share tactics everyone can use to make themselves, their families and their communities more resilient in the event of a bushfire
Bayonet Head
Goode Beach
Little Grove
Useful Documents & Links
Documents