Fire permissions

Fire permissions

There are 4 things that determine whether you can have a fire at the event:

• The site owners must give permission - their site, their rules.
• The type of fire – different types of fires e.g. cooking fires vs braziers have different requirements in different fire seasons
• The fire season must allow it - e.g. there is no fire ban
• The weather conditions on the day.

Site owners

The site owners can always restrict:

• whether fires can be lit at all
• what types of fires can be lit
• where fires can be lit
• how big fires can be

Assign one person to liaise with the owners about fires.

Fire seasons

The fire season can change with little notice, so will be confirmed in the days before the event (and may even change during the event). Even if there is no fire ban, the site must still give permission, and this will be confirmed at the event.

The current fire season for the site can be found at https://www.checkitsalright.nz/

Allowed fire types by fire season

In addition to gaining the permission of the site owner, Fire and Emergency New Zealand decides on the fire season, which governs which outdoor fires are allowed based on recent local weather conditions.

In an open fire season, the site owner has full control over what fire types they allow and where.

Section 52 prohibitions

Section 52 of the Act allows Fire and Emergency to prohibit the lighting of fires in open air in an area, or prohibit or restrict any other activity in an area, including access to the area, that Fire and Emergency considers may cause a fire to start or to spread.

This can include any spark-causing activities such as welding & other hot works (such as forging), mowing, the use of fireworks, or prohibit fire types normally allowed in a prohibited season.

Section 52 is often used for days of extreme fire danger, and sometimes occur during a restricted fires season, as they are more temporary.

Allowed fire types

Fire type	Description	Requirements	Restricted Season	Prohibited Season	Section 52 Prohibition
Gas-operated appliances	Manufactured gas-operated appliances, such as barbecues, gas outdoor fireplaces and outdoor gas heaters	May only be used in areas that have access to taps, on the concrete pads provided, or similar non-flammable ground cover.	Allowed	Allowed	Generally allowed, check what the prohibition covers
Charcoal barbecues or grills	Barbecues or grills that use either charcoal briquettes or natural lump charcoal as their fuel source	May only be used in areas that have access to taps, on the concrete pads provided, or similar non-flammable ground cover. Don’t use under a roof overhang or within other enclosed areas. You must have a suitable way to extinguish the fire within easy reach – a maximum of 5 metres away. You must not leave the fire unsupervised while burning	Allowed	Allowed	Not allowed
Open top liquid fuel cooker	These are usually small portable cooking devices that are liquid fueled with an open fuel container either under or in the cooking device.	May only be used in areas that have access to taps, on the concrete pads provided, or similar non-flammable ground cover. You must have a suitable way to extinguish the fire within easy reach – a maximum of 5 metres away. Don’t light your fire within 3 metres of any part of a building, hedge, shelter belt or any other combustible material. You must not leave the fire unsupervised while burning	Allowed	Allowed	Generally allowed, check what the prohibition covers
Permanent outdoor fireplace Wood-fired pizza oven/wood oven	The clay oven	Anything required by the site owner Must have a non-combustible hearth or base that extends a minimum of 500 mm either side of the left and right edges and a minimum of 1 m from the front edge of the fire box. This is to stop any burning material falling from the fire box landing on anything combustible. Smoke vent/chimneys must have a purpose-built manufactured cap, or maximum 5 mm steel mesh fitted in the top to stop any hot ash or embers from escaping. Firewood storage must be in areas not affected by heat from the fire and clear of any possible hot ash or ember-affected areas. You must have a suitable way to extinguish the fire within easy reach – a maximum of 5 metres away. You must not leave the fire unsupervised while burning, or It must have a solid or mesh screen/door, that prevents any burning material from escaping the fire box	Allowed	Allowed	Not allowed
Movable/ portable freestanding frontloading fireplace.	A freestanding front-loading fireplace or oven usually with a bulbous body – usually has a vertical smoke vent or chimney	Anything required by the site owner Don’t light your fire within 3 metres of any part of a building, hedge, shelter belt or any other combustible material. You must have a suitable way to extinguish the fire within easy reach – a maximum of 5 metres away. You must not leave the fire unsupervised while burning or It must have a solid or mesh screen/door that prevents any burning material from escaping the fire box.	Allowed	Allowed	Not allowed
Cooking fires		Anything required by the site owner Don’t light your fire within 5 metres of any part of a building, hedge, shelter belt or any other combustible material. You must have a suitable way to extinguish the fire within easy reach – a maximum of 5 metres from your cooking fire. You must not leave the fire unsupervised while burning. On completion of cooking or the purpose required for cooking food the fires must be extinguished.	Allowed	Allowed	Not allowed
Braziers, firepits and bowls	A container for hot coals, or a pit dug in the ground, made from stone, brick or metal; or a bowl on an upright stand	Anything required by the site owner Your fire area must be less than 1 square metre. Where hot embers/ash are able to escape, there must be a non combustible base/tray that will contain these hot embers/ash to prevent any risk of fire escaping. Don’t light your fire within 3 metres of any part of a building, hedge, shelter belt or any other combustible material. You must have a suitable way to extinguish the fire within easy reach – a maximum of 5 metres from your brazier or fire pit/bowl. You must not leave the fire unsupervised while burning.	Allowed	Prohibited	Not allowed
Bonfires	A large but controlled outdoor fire, used for recreation or celebration	Anything required by the site owner You must comply with the conditions on your permit issued by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.	Permit required	Prohibited	Not allowed

Applying for a fire permit

If any of the fire types wanted require a permit, or the site owner requests that you get one, the steward or their representative should visit www.firepermit.nz to apply.

Note:Angele (Kerry McSaveney) has a permit for campfires by the Mong and at Northside that can be reactivated.

Applications can take 5-10 working days to be approved.

Follow the steps on the website. It's pretty straightfoward.