Residents wanting to clean up their properties with a backyard burn off are urged to notify the firefighting service about their plans, and to be cautious as a couple of fires recently escaped property owners' control.
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Earlier this month the Tathra Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade stated on its social media page "right up and down the Far South Coast, brigades are being called to burns that did not have any notification".
On Monday, NSW Rural Fire Service community safety officer Marty Webster said about 1150 burn off notifications had been registered with the service across the Far South Coast.
"Although the number of notifications shows by and large people are being compliant, there's always room for improvement," he said.
"It's often the people who don't notify us that end up being the problem as well."
Mr Webster said this number of burn off notifications was higher than normal for this time of year.
"I imagine that's partly due to people having done a lot of raking up during the fire season and now taking the opportunity to get rid of these piles," he said.
"I expect people also have an elevated level of awareness to do tidy up those piles [due to the recent bushfires], but I have no report to back that up."
Mr Webster also said last week the Far South Coast RFS was called to a couple of burns that had escaped the control of property owners when the warm and windy conditions had peaked.
"I think some people are underestimating how things are still fairly dry despite how green it is and perhaps biting off more than they can chew as well," he said.
In these recent cases there was no property damage and RFS brigades helped to bring the fires under control.
Mr Webster said those looking to burn off at their property had to notify the RFS and their neighbours and give them at least 24 hours notice so no-one called the service concerned about a possible fire in their area.
"If someone hasn't notified us we have to assume it's a problem," he said.
He said if a concerned resident calls Triple Zero over a burn, if it has been registered with the RFS the duty officer will contact the property owner and make sure the situation is okay and did not have to send a brigade out to check on it unless there is a problem.
Penalty notices can also become involved if a property owner does not inform the RFS about their burn off.
Mr Webster said when starting a burn off pick a spot away from other hazards like bushland, if you are in a paddock slash or mow the edges first, keep the fire long and low rather than tall, choose the right day, and make sure you have water onsite and some ability to keep the fire contained.
Also, make sure everything is in place before you start the fire.