Rural Fire Service Federation Zone Group Captain Greyd’n Davis said the Berrigan RFS brigade was called to an escape Monday evening.
Occurring just south of Berrigan, on Yarrawonga Rd, it luckily only damaged “a couple hundred metres” of grassland.
“It’s a reminder that even though it is May, until we get a break in conditions the grass is still quite volatile,” Grp Capt Davis said.
“We have been getting quite a few escaped burns lately, and not all of them are being registered using the Notify Us tool, as is legislated.”
All planned burns must be registered via www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/notify/ and your neighbours must also be notified 24 hours before lighting any fires.
The reminder comes as the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia and its partner organisations urge farmers to seriously consider the impacts of their crop residue fires on their neighbours and the broader community.
The RGA says during autumn the weather conditions dramatically increase the risk of smoke being locked-in close to ground level leading to poor air quality.
RGA policy and projects manager Neil Bull said farmers have ready access to weather data to guide them of the appropriate conditions to burn stubble.
“The easiest way to access this data is to download the Stubble Burning App from the App stores, (available for both Android and Apple phones). The alternative is the Bureau of Meteorology MeteEye site,” Mr Bull said.
“As we move further into autumn we recommend starting burning as soon as the dew has dried and aiming to have fires out by 2pm.
“Only burn dry crop residue and be organised to complete the burn in the shortest possible time. Early burning under appropriate conditions will mitigate the risk of poor air quality.”
For more information about best practice and alternatives to burning, refer to the Responsible Stubble Management details on the RGA website.
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