BUSH FIRES ACT 1954 - SECT 25

BUSH FIRES ACT 1954 - SECT 25

25 .         No fire to be lit in open air unless certain precautions taken

        (1)         Subject to subsection (1aa) and section 25A, during the restricted burning times or during the prohibited burning times a person shall not light or use a fire in the open air for a purpose not specifically mentioned or provided for in this Act, save and except in accordance with and subject to the following provisions —

            (a)         a fire for the purpose of camping or cooking shall not be lit within 3 m of a log or stump and unless and until a space of ground around the site of the fire having a radius of at least 3 m from the site as the centre, is cleared of all bush and other inflammable material, and when for any day, or any period of a day, the fire danger forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology in Perth in respect of the locality wherein it is desired to light or use a fire for such purpose is “catastrophic”, “extreme” or “high”, such fire shall not be lit on that day or during that period unless and until the approval in writing of the local government for that locality has been obtained so to do;

            (b)         a fire shall not be lit for the conversion of bush into charcoal, or in or about a lime kiln for the production of lime, unless and until approval in writing is obtained from the local government in whose district the burning is proposed to be carried out and a space of ground around the perimeter of a kiln, pit, or retort used for the purpose is cleared of all bush and other inflammable material for a distance of at least 6 m and such directions and requirements, if any, as are given or specified by a bush fire control officer or authorised CALM Act officer as being in his opinion, necessary for the purpose of preventing the fire from spreading or escaping, are duly carried out or complied with;

            (c)         a fire for the purpose of disposing of the carcass of a dead animal, or a part of the carcass, shall not be lit —

                  (i)         unless and until a space of ground around the perimeter of the fire and the carcass or part to be burnt is cleared of all bush and other inflammable material for a distance of at least 6 m;

                  (ii)         within a distance of 6 m of a standing tree, whether dead or living and unless at least one person remains in attendance constantly at the fire, and the directions which may be given by a bush fire liaison officer or bush fire control officer in respect of the fire are complied with;

                  (iii)         except between the hours of 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.;

                  (iv)         unless and until notice of intention so to do has been given to the occupier of all land adjoining the land on which the burning is to take place and to a bush fire control officer of the local government for the district in which the fire is to be lit;

        [(d), (e)         deleted]

            (f)         where a fire is lit for any purpose mentioned in this subsection, except for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (b), the person who lit the fire, or the person left in attendance on the fire as required by this subsection, as the case may be, shall completely extinguish the fire by the application of water or earth before he leaves it;

            (g)         where the occupier of a sawmill uses a fire on the premises of the sawmill for the purpose of consuming or disposing of sawdust and waste timber resulting from the sawmilling of timber in the sawmill, if the occupier causes reasonable precautions to be taken for the purpose of preventing the fire from spreading or becoming a source of danger to persons or property, and causes the particular directions or requisitions of a bush fire control officer, bush fire liaison officer or of an authorised CALM Act officer in respect of the fire to be properly observed, the occupier is not required to extinguish the fire whilst it continues to be required for the purpose;

            (h)         where the occupier of a brick kiln uses a fire on the premises of the brick kiln for the purpose of burning and producing bricks, such occupier is not required to extinguish the fire while it continues to be required for that purpose, if he takes or causes to be taken reasonable precautions to prevent the fire from spreading or becoming a source of danger to persons or property and observes or causes to be observed properly the particular directions or requisitions of a bush fire control officer, bush fire liaison officer or authorised CALM Act officer in respect of the fire.

        (1aa)         For the purposes of this section a gas appliance, comprising a fire the flame of which is encapsulated by the appliance and which does not consume solid fuel, shall not be taken to be a fire in the open air and may be used at any time for the purpose of camping or cooking if that gas appliance is used —

            (a)         at a person’s home; or

            (b)         in an area which —

                  (i)         is set aside for that purpose by the State Authority or local government responsible for the care, control or management of the land; and

                  (ii)         bears the State Authority’s or local government’s sign denoting that purpose,

                and all combustible material is cleared from within a 5 m radius of the appliance.

        (1a)         Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1) a local government may, by notice published in the Gazette and in a newspaper circulating in its district, prohibit the lighting of fires in the open air in its district for the purpose of camping or cooking for such period during the prohibited burning times as is specified in the notice.

        (1b)         A notice published under subsection (1a) may be cancelled or varied by a subsequent notice so published.

        (1c)         During any period for which the lighting of fires for the purpose of camping or cooking is prohibited in the district of a local government by a notice published under subsection (1a) a person shall not light a fire in the open air in that district for either of those purposes unless the fire is lit —

            (a)         in a place specified in the notice as being set aside for the lighting of camping and cooking fires; or

            (b)         with the approval in writing of the local government.

        (1d)         The provisions of subsection (1)(a) and (f) shall be complied with in relation to a fire lit pursuant to subsection (1c).

        (2)         A person who contravenes a provision of this section is guilty of an offence.

        Penalty: $3 000.

        [Section 25 amended: No. 11 of 1963 s. 12; No. 15 of 1965 s. 2; No. 113 of 1965 s. 8(1); No. 101 of 1969 s. 5; No. 67 of 1970 s. 2; No. 94 of 1972 s. 4 (as amended: No. 83 of 1973 s. 3); No. 65 of 1977 s. 21, 47 and 48; No. 51 of 1979 s. 5; No. 8 of 1987 s. 8; No. 60 of 1992 s. 23; No. 14 of 1996 s. 4; No. 57 of 1997 s. 26(1); No. 10 of 1998 s. 20(1); No. 38 of 2002 s. 25, 39 and 40; No. 25 of 2009 s. 10; No. 19 of 2010 s. 52(4); No. 26 of 2022 s. 6.]