(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.]