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.
• Editorial: The fire ban
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
