Bush Fires Regulations 1954

Where the Governor by proclamation under section 26 authorises the burning of a plant during the whole or part of the prohibited burning times, a person shall not burn a plant under that proclamation unless he has obtained a permit under this Division.

An application under subregulation (1) shall be in the form of —

Form 8 in the Appendix; or

a letter containing all the particulars required to be given in that Form,

not later than 7 days before the day on which it is intended to commence burning; or

within any shorter period fixed by agreement between the person and the authorised officer.

The authorised officer with whom the application is lodged may require the applicant to make the statutory declaration contained in the form of the application.

The authorised officer issuing a permit to burn plants under the provisions of this Division may incorporate in that permit any requirements and directions additional to those specified in this Division that he may consider necessary relative to the burning, and the holder of the permit shall observe and carry out those requirements and directions.

Where a local government issues directions to an authorised officer as to the manner in which or the conditions under which permits to burn plants shall be issued in the district of the local government by that officer, he shall comply with those directions.

Subject to regulations 34 and 35, a permit to burn proclaimed plants shall not be granted unless and until the applicant for the permit satisfies the authorised officer to whom the application is made that —

the land to be burned at one time and under the permit applied for does not exceed the area as fixed by the authorised officer when granting the permit, and in any event does not exceed 40 ha;

the area has been surrounded by a firebreak to a width of not less than 6 m;

if the area to be burned is carrying any standing trees, that all grass and debris has been raked to a distance of not less than 2 m from the base of each standing tree.

A person who is granted a permit shall deliver or cause to be delivered written notice of the intended burning to —

each owner or occupier of land adjoining the land on which burning is to occur; and

the chief executive officer and a bush fire control officer of the local government for the district in which the land on which burning is to occur is situated; and

if that land is within 3 km of forest land, a forest officer; and

each government department or statutory body which has made it known to people in the district concerned that it requires to be notified of the granting of a permit under this Division,

not later than 4 days before the commencement of burning; or

within any shorter period fixed by agreement between the holder of the permit and any person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) in respect of notice to that person.

The authorised officer shall specify in a permit to burn proclaimed plants the day, not being a Sunday and not necessarily the day for which the permit was sought, on which burning is authorised, and subject to subregulation (12), shall specify such time between the hours of 2 p.m. and midnight of the same day as he thinks fit, or as the local government may from time to time direct at which burning may be commenced.

A permit to burn a proclaimed plant shall be in the Form 9 in the Appendix.

The authorised officer to whom the application for the permit is made may, before granting the permit enter upon the land of the applicant to inspect the area proposed to be burnt.

The FES Commissioner may, by notice in the Government Gazette, authorise the issue of permits for the burning of proclaimed plants in any district or part of a district at a time prior to 2 p.m., and in that event a permit may, subject to the directions of the local government for that district or that part of a district, specify a time prior to 2 p.m. for the commencement of such burning.

No fire shall be lit pursuant to the provisions of this regulation on a day, or during any period of a day, if for that day or that period the fire danger forecast issued by the Bureau of Meteorology in Perth in respect of the locality where it is proposed to burn the proclaimed plant is “catastrophic”, “extreme” or “high”, and the person who has received the permit under the provisions of this regulation shall not burn a proclaimed plant in the locality on that day or during that period, but may burn the plant in that locality on the first day next following the day or period of a day on which the fire danger forecast issued by the Bureau of Meteorology in Perth in respect of the locality is below “high”.

The owner or occupier of the area to be burned shall himself arrange for and provide at least 3 persons to be constantly in attendance at the fire in the area from the time it is lit until it is completely extinguished and to assist in keeping the fire under control and preventing it from spreading beyond the area proposed to be burned.