An Alexandra fire crew attended a bonfire of tree stumps near the town yesterday, set alight by a property owner who was apparently unaware of the fire ban.
Senior firefighter Butch McGinniss, who was the fire officer in charge, said the stumps were burning on a Chapman Rd property, beside mature poplar and willow trees.
One crew of Alexandra volunteers put out the fire, spending about 40 minutes at the site.
The firefighters had informed the property owner of the fire ban.
The person was apparently unaware of it, Mr McGinniss said.
Alexandra fire chief Russell Anderson said the fire ban had been well-publicised and all he could do was reinforce the message about the extreme fire danger in the area.
Central Otago principal rural fire officer Owen Burgess said the prohibition on lighting fires had received lots of publicity in the wake of two fires lit deliberately in Alexandra and Clyde this week, and two other major fires last week, one at Roxburgh and the other near Alexandra.
"Ignorance is no excuse," he said.
"On the whole, the public are aware of the fire risk . . . and abide by the rules, accordingly. But then you get some people, through ignorance, who still light fires."
Mr Burgess said he was unaware of the details of the Chapman Rd fire.
Speaking generally, if the Central Otago District Council's bylaws relating to fires had been breached, a prosecution could follow, he said.
Mr Burgess said Central Otago residents should not be lulled into thinking one shower of rain had removed the fire risk.
A welcome shower on Tuesday evening delivered about 4mm of rain to Alexandra and Clyde, but more was needed to reduce the risk of fires, he said.
Mr Burgess said the fire ban would remain in force.
"Even though that rain has dampened things down a little for now, a few days of sun and nor'west winds and the risk will be just as high."
lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz
Links:
[1] http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/88379/the-fire-ban