Wildfires in rural working environments

She’s a cracker day in the sunshine, no rain for a few weeks or more and it’s drying off. It’s gonna be a ripper hot day. The summers are getting hotter and dryer. Early starts and the beach for the arvo with a cold one. OR IS IT?

HEALTH & SAFETY

Fire fighter and stakeholder safety takes priority over other fire response considerations. Rural business operators such as farmers and forest owners - as well as FENZ - are Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) and must comply with their duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

They must, as far as reasonably practicable, consult, co-operate with, and co-ordinateactivities with each other. They have a duty of care that people working on their land have the skills and level of training for their tasks.

FENZ must make sure the health and safety requirements of owners and fire fighters are met. Auckland. However, this can be much greater in very dry years.

If you are trained, FENZ may ask for your help to fight the fire

Wildfire is a killer – it can injure and cause huge economic loss. We have had unfortunate deaths with

• farmers caught in burn offs when clearing land,

• fires set alight by machinery working and getting out of control, or

• fire starter ratbags.

• Virtually all of the more than 3000 wildfires reported each year are started accidentally or deliberately by people.

Natural causes like lightning account for less than 1% of wildfires.

A review of 15 years of New Zealand wildfire statistics by Scion fire researchers found 30% of wildfires are the result of land clearing burns getting out of control, a further 6% are started by vehicles, 5% by fireworks and firearms, and 25% by recreational campfires.

The actual number of fires started by these causes is likely to be higher, as the cause of roughly half of all wildfires is classified as unknown or miscellaneous.

Wildfires burn close to 6000 ha of land each year on average, an area the size of greater Auckland. However, this can be much greater in very dry years.

The areas at the greatest risk from wildfires are the drier regions of the east coasts of both islands (Marlborough, Canterbury, Central Otago, Hawke’s Bay, and the East Coast), Waikato and Northland. Slightly more than half the area burned each year is grassland, scrubland makes up most of the rest, with forests accounting for just 6% (Scion 2015)

ARE YOU PREPARED TO CONTROL THE FIRE OR GET AWAY SAFELY?

What can I do to be aware of the risk in my Contracting and/or Fencing Business?

Assess the day – my Prestart:

• Will I be working with plant or tools that have the potential to spark and catch fire to dry grass?

• What’s the area I am working in – Forestry boundary, Hay paddock, roadside?

• Have I got the correct fire extinguisher if required?

• The emergency plan: Who to call – 111

• An escape route in case

GUIDELINES TO FIRE RISK

• Check the weather

• Look at the weather for your district, information can be gathered about the safety of different activities with operating machines or hot works. Wind can play an important part in the risk level also. Do you need a permit for the activities you are undertaking? Is it a closed fire season?

• Don’t park vehicles on dry flammable material like long grass. One in every six wildfires is started by a vehicle.

• Be careful with cigarettes, matches and lighters.

• Remember, if you are found to be responsible for starting a wildfire, you could have to pay the cost of putting it out and for any damage incurred.

• It’s also a very good idea to carry a fire extinguisher in your Ute, Tractor, and/or Excavator.

If you see or start a wildfire, call 111 immediately, and make sure you and others are safe. Wildfires can spread very quickly, sometimes faster than people can run.

ACTION ON SPOTTING A FIRE

If you are a forest owner, rural contractor, or witness to a fire.

• Call 111 immediately – not a local forest company. Give clear information to the FENZ communication centre so the right fire resources are despatched

• Clearly state your address, road name and RAPID number, approximate area burnt, what is burning, what is at risk, the wind direction and strength • Only attempt to fight the fire if it is safe to do so and you are confident you can contain it

• Once you have provided this information.

• Let your neighbours know

• Move people and livestock at risk of fire or smoke

• Someone should wait at the road gate to unlock the gate if necessary and give further information and local knowledge to fire fighters

TRAINING YOURSELF AND STAFF

• Learn how to control a fire and what type of extinguisher should be used

• Check your fire extinguishers regularly to ensure they are still ok to use and ensure you have the bigger size.

OPERATE MACHINERY SAFELY

One less spark is one less wildfire you can cause, whether you are driving large industrial vehicles, such as bulldozers, excavator’s, or trucks, or you are using handheld tools, such as chainsaws, disc grinders and welding equipment.

Fires can start from slashers, graders, mower’s, or discs hitting stones, or from vehicle exhausts over stubble or long, dry grass.

It is a good idea in extreme fire danger times to stop using welders, chainsaw’s, and slashers.

Confine tractor operations to mornings when it’s cooler.

CHAINSAWS CAN CAUSE WILDFIRES

Consider the tools you are using and how you place them after use, have you fitted a spark arrestor?

• Let chainsaws cool down before refuelling • Sit them on a clean stump or patch of dirt and not on the grass or pine needles

• Start the chainsaw away from the refuelling site

• Carry fuel in an approved fuel container. These are less likely to leak or spill fuel.

• Have emergency items close by.

Other things you can do include:

• Install spark-arrester shields on diesel trucks with exhausts higher than the cab, especially when carting hay

• If your Ute has a diesel particulate filter park it where there is less risk when you regenerate the fuel

• Inform machine operators of the conditions outside their airconditioned cabs

• Clean all machinery regularly, especially belly pans and spaces around motors, so they are free of oil, dust, grease, grass, and straw.

• Get rid of birds’ nests in or around motors. It takes a starling only 15 minutes to make a nest!

• Check your machinery’s bearings and moving parts

• Carry fire extinguishers, shovels, and knapsack sprayers during high fire danger periods

Be particularly careful when using machinery during extreme fire danger periods. Make sure to check the fire weather and fire season status in advance.

INSURANCES

Consult your insurance broker for the correct insurances to be held by the business

• Fire: Insure yourself against fire that originates on your property and passes onto and damages someone else’s property or Forestry Block

• General /Public Liability: Make sure you are covered for damage you cause.

• Outbuildings: Ensure your buildings, including sheds and hay barns, are covered.

• Vehicles and equipment: Protect the things that help you enjoy and profit from your lifestyle block.

Stay safe out there team!

Deb | RuralSafe | ruralsafe.co.nz