Chch fire ban until Sunday

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34087, 26 February 1976, Page 18

Chch fire ban until Sunday

The ban on the lighting of fires in the open, imposed by the Christchurch metropolitan councils, will remain in force in all council districts up to and including Sunday. Most rural councils have lifted their fire restrictions in the last week. The restrictions were imposed in November, and one immediate effect felt by all councils was a marked increase in the amount of garden and other burnable rubbish taken to the council refuse tips. The Waimalri County Council has taken the initiative in suggesting a meeting of officers of the various councils to see if an approved type of outdoor incinerator can be found to ease the problem next closed fire season.

Spokesmen for the Heathcote, Paparua, Lyttelton and Kaiapoi councils were not prepared to comment officially on the suggestion. However, they thought that it might find approval from the councils. The Lyttelton Borough Council was the sole metropolitan local body to make an exception to the total open-fire ban recommended by the Fire Board. It allowed the use of commercially constructed incinerators in the open, despite the board’s recommendation.

Council spokesmen said that residents of areas where the ban was in force had generally been co-operative. Very few contraventions had been reported.