Fight fire with forethought
People with homes on the city fringes or built in places with neighbouring trees or scrub should get hold of a new booklet from the National Rural Fire Authority which explains how to protect yourself and your neighbours from fire.
Protecting Our Communities from Interface Fires is also available in CD ROM disc form. The 50-page FireSmart manual explains how a little forethought and preventative work can reduce the chances of your property being razed if a fire gets out of control in the area and how to minimise the risk to others if a fire starts on your property.
It includes advice about what risks to look for around the home or business and how those can be reduced. The advice it gives to homeowners includes maintaining safety zones, making properties accessible to firefighters, location of water supplies, preparation for fires and what to do if a fire is approaching.
People planning to build new homes or business premises next to areas of trees or scrub, and those planning a garden layout in such a situation, will also find the manual’s construction and landscaping checklists useful.
- Copies of this booklet will be available for $10 from the Civic Offices and service centres. The National Rural Fire Authority’s website is www.nrfa.org.nz
- The first of the city’s restricted fire seasons came into force on 1 October. Although different areas within the city boundaries have different starts to their restricted fire seasons, it is best to assume that lighting fires without permission is illegal until the end of April. To find out more or to seek a fire permit, either look online at www.ccc.govt.nz/health/pamphlets/outdoorrubbishfirecalendar.pdf or call the City Council on 941 8999.
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