Fire Information

Important Dates

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

Be advised that the South West Sector Prohibited Burning Time in the City of Albany has changed.

This will now commence from 15 November 2023 when burning is prohibited across the whole of the City of Albany.

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.

Permits will not be issued to:

• burn materials that can be disposed of in a green-waste bin
• on Good Friday to Easter Monday (inclusive)

Please consider your neighbours when undertaking a burn and make sure that smoke doesn't drift onto roads causing a traffic hazard.

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.

Permit to Burn in the City of Albany Gazetted Townsite

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:

• Download the Application for an Inspection Prior to the Intention to Burn form
• Email to [email protected] or;
• Lodge your permit application in person at our Administration Office at 102 North Road

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:

• Download and complete the Hazard Reduction Burn Form
• Return it to your local fire brigade. 

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

• Department of Fire & Emergency Services (DFES)
• Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)
• Bush Fires Act 1954
• Bushfire Preparation
• Emergency WA
• Brigade Sectors, Boundaries & Fire Control Officers.
• Fire Management Notice 
• Main Roads Map
• City of Albany Bushfire Brigades
• Operating Private Equipment at Fires
• Albany Volunteer Fire & Rescue Services Association of WA

Documents

• Burn Permit Map
• Application for an Inspection Prior to the Intention to Burn
• Hazard Reduction Burn Form
• Australian Fire Danger Rating System