Fire restrictions will be in place for a large part of the South West holiday region over the Easter long weekend, with the Shire of Augusta Margaret River suspending burning permits and prohibiting the lighting of fires in the interest of community safety.
Restrictions will apply from Thursday 1 April, 4pm to Tuesday 6 April, 4pm.
All burning permits that have been previously issued will not be valid after 4pm Thursday 1 April 2021 and landowners must fully extinguish any fires that are still burning after that time.
AMR Chief Shire Bushfire Control Officer, David Holland said the restrictions had been introduced given a number of factors including above average Soil Dryness Index for this time of year.
"While we are currently experiencing a cool and damp day, these conditions are not expected to extend past Friday when we will once again return to dry, windy conditions," he said.
"Contributing factors also include the expected large influx of visitors for this weekend, which while being welcomed by our business community, can present challenges for our firefighters in the event of an out of control fire.
"We are also expecting that a number of our firefighters will wish to travel outside of our shire for the weekend and this will potentially result in reduced capacity for response to a fire."
Exceptions:
- Fire pits and permanent fire rings within approved camping/caravan park area, or on private property (with the landowner's permission) may be lit after 6pm and extinguished before 11pm on the same day.
- Solid fuel BBQs may still be used at any time if the Fire Danger Index is not Very High or above.
