Open fire season begins

2 May 2017

A permit is no longer needed to light open fires in rural areas following the end of the Taupo District's restricted fire season yesterday.

The season began in October and has ended due to cooler temperatures and plenty of rain over the last month. Rural fire manager Roger Nelson said the 2016/17 summer had been busy for rural fire volunteers, with 47 call-outs up from 35 the previous year.

"Collectively volunteers spent 500 hours responding to fires this season, more than double the 2015/16 season. Although most of these were small fires and responses to smoke sightings, our volunteers were kept extremely busy. The community was also very helpful reporting suspected fires to us, which made our job much easier."

This season 494 permits were issued, compared to 373 the previous year.

"The high number of permits applied for during the restricted season meant people were following the rules and keeping the council informed which is great to see," Mr Nelson said.

While the restricted season is now over for the summer, Mr Nelson said people would still be encouraged to take care when lighting fires and use common sense.