Break the rules and the financial penalties can be crippling

An overseas yachting visitor left the country $10,000 out of pocket after a barbeque on the beach last summer sparked a fire which destroyed regenerating bush and threatened multi-million-dollar homes in the Bay of Islands.

"It was a costly error in judgment but it could have been so much worse if the fire had not been contained before it reached the houses," Far North Principal Rural Fire Officer Lance Johnston said today.

As the Far North moves into a restricted fire season, fire authorities are using the Bay of Islands incident last summer as a blatant warning of the consequences of ignoring the seasonal fire restrictions.

"Before you think about lighting any fire in the open during a restricted fire season, make sure you have a permit. If you are in an area which has a closed fire season, don't even think about it," Mr Johnston said.

A restricted fire season effective from midnight on Friday (10 December 2010) has now been declared for the Far North. From this date, permits will be required before lighting any fire in the open.

The move into a restricted fire season has been called as drought conditions deepen and incidents of uncontrolled scrub fires continue to increase. Fire authorities will meet again next week to consider increasing the restrictions in the Aupouri/Karikari Rural Fire District to a total ban.

Lance Johnston said today the elderly English couple whose beach barbeque had turned so dramatically wrong had asked the Rural Fire Authority to bring their experience to the attention of the boating community in the hope of preventing a repeat scenario. 

 

"These are generally very responsible people and frequent visitors to the Bay of Islands. When they stepped ashore for a barbeque, they thought they had covered all the bases and had been meticulous in putting their cooking fire out before leaving the beach.

"But the following day a spark from the beach ignited surrounding scrub and bush and raced up the hill towards the houses," he said.

Because of the couple's transient circumstances, a compensation settlement of $10,000 to offset fire suppression costs had been negotiated in lieu of a court prosecution.

This was not the first time that there has been a serious fire as a result of the actions of boaties. The Department of Conservation had taken two successful prosecutions in relation to incidents at the Cavalli Islands which had also proved very expensive for those responsible.

"We also have three prosecutions for fires without a permit currently going through the legal process. All three involve huge fire suppression costs," he said.

The message to boaties, visitors and residents alike was –it's simple not worth the risk to light up without a permit. The only exception to the requirement for a permit was for purpose-designed gas-fired barbeques.

Applications for fire permits were available from council Service Centres across the district. The restricted fire season would remain in place until further notice.