Restricted fire season now in place

Get your permit for open-air fires

With both heat and wind featuring in Taranaki this summer, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has moved the region to a restricted fire season. That means Stratford district residents will need to apply for a permit to light an open-air fire and if you receive one, you must follow the conditions of the permit.

Open-air fires include bonfires, campfires, burn piles or pits, land-clearing burns, and more. Visit CheckItsAlright.nz to quickly find out if you need a fire permit and make an application online.

Finding out if you need a permit only takes a minute or two, but if you need to apply, it can take 5 - 10 working days for FENZ to process your application, so please allow yourself plenty of time.

Can I use my charcoal BBQ, light my outdoor brazier, or lay down a hāngī?

Some types of fires don’t require you to apply for a permit if you’re able to follow some set conditions, like not leaving your brazier unsupervised, and ensuring you’ve got a suitable way to extinguish your charcoal BBQ in easy reach, amongst others.

CheckItsAlright.nz has a handy ‘Need a fire permit’ tool. Enter your address and the type of fire you’d like to light. If you don’t need a permit, you’ll instead see a list of the conditions you need to follow in order for your fire to be considered authorised.