‘They were burning green waste’: Whanganui firefighters warn residents to stick to fire restrictions

Whanganui firefighters were called to two unattended burn-offs in Westmere.

Whanganui firefighters are warning people that the fire season remains prohibited after controlling two burn-offs left unattended in Westmere on Wednesday.

Whanganui Fire Brigade station officer Gerard Packard said about 10 firefighters responded to two fires in Westmere that had been lit to burn off green waste.

They appeared to have been lit by the same person but had been left unwatched, he said.

Two crews were called to the scene at about 4.17pm.

They made the decision to extinguish the blazes to prevent the chance of the fires spreading or becoming out of control.

“We were concerned about the conditions because of the size of the fire, and also because of the smoke drift across the road,” Packard said.

“They were burning green waste.”

The prohibited fire season across the Manawatū-Whanganui coastal area is still in place, which means open-air fires are not allowed and all fire permits are suspended until further notice.

If conditions start to ease the area will then move into a restricted fire season with a permit still needed to light an open-air fire.

Packard said Whanganui would need to see some decent rain before it could move back to an open fire season.

“Because we’ve had a little bit of rain everyone thinks the conditions have eased, but the risk is still there, all it takes is some high winds and sunshine and we’re back to where we were.”

Anyone planning to light a fire should check the fire risk conditions by going to www.checkitsalright.nz.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.