While the fire danger period will end in Ballarat and surrounding areas next Monday, the Country Fire Authority is urging residents to remain vigilant.
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The fire danger period, which has been in place since late November 2019, will end at 1.00am on Monday, April 6, for the City of Ballarat, Hepburn, Golden Plains and Moorabool shires.
Compared to recent years which have seen longer summers, the fire danger period has been lifted somewhat earlier due to rains in February meaning the landscape has greened up.
In the 2018-19 fire season, the fire danger period ended at the beginning of May, following a ferocious bushfire at Mt Clear in mid-April.
CFA District 15 Acting Operations Manager Gavin Hope said that while the fire danger period was being lifted in some areas, vigilance was still required and a zero tolerance policy would continue to be enforced for people who illegally light fires.
Following the end of the fire danger period, residents can still expect to see plumes of smoke in the air as burn-offs can be conducted on private properties. But residents must follow the rules.
These rules include registering the burn-off with authorities, checking weather conditions such as wind patterns and informing neighbours that they may see smoke on a particular day.
"Registering your burn-off ensures that if somebody reports smoke, the incident will be cross-checked with the burn-off register, which will then prevent CFA crews wasting resources and showing up on your door," he said.
"False alarms take crews away from family, friends, work and other potential emergencies."
He said it is also important for those conducting a burn-off to remain at the scene throughout the burn and to have sufficient equipment and water at hand in order to contain it if it starts to spread.
"When conducting burn-offs, remain alert and always have resources on hand to extinguish the fire," he said.
It has been a busy summer for local firefighters, with several large-scale fires in the wider region - including at Lexton, Smythesdale and Allendale - as well as many deployments, such as to New South Wales and to the Gippsland region.
Mr Hope thanked the community for their support and vigilance during the summer period but said it was still required moving into winter.
While the threat of bush, grass and scrub fires has diminished, the likelihood of house fires increases as people attempt to stay warm.
Registering a burn-off requires some basic information including the location, date, expected start and finish time, the estimated size as well as what is intended to burn.
Burn-offs can be registered with the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) by phone - 1800 668 511 - or by emailing burnoffs@esta.vic.gov.au
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