When you live in a rural or farming area, you should know your bushfire risk and put a bushfire plan in place. This way you can prepare your property, keep your family safe, and look after your livelihood. Think about things that increase your bushfire risk, like the weather and your machinery, and how close you live to emergency services assistance.
Create and practice a plan with your family and employees. You should all know what you’ll do if a bushfire strikes. Remember to let your neighbours know your plan too.
Fires are more likely to happen during harvest when machinery and vehicles move through cropped paddocks. To help prevent fires starting on your property, carry out regular machine maintenance and keep headers clean.
Dry straw, dust, chaff, oil and leaking distillate are perfect fuels to accelerate a fire. So keep your headers clean and free of these elements to give yourself a better chance of preventing a fire.
The following components of a harvester can potentially cause a fire, and should be well maintained and closely monitored throughout the year:
Harvest and Vehicle Movement Bans are issued by your local government and are put in place when your local Bushfire Control Officer identifies the use of engines, vehicles, plant or machinery as high bushfire risk activities, during particular times of the day.
A Harvest and Vehicle Movement Ban can be in place for any length of time. It is most likely to be imposed during the ‘heat of the day’. But your local government can extend or cancel this at any time if weather conditions change.
To find out if a Harvest and Vehicle Movement Ban has been issued for your area, contact your local government and ask to speak to their Bushfire Control Officer or Ranger Services.
Please note: DFES does not impose these bans. We share this information because it is important for your safety.
As the machine operator, you are responsible for checking whether any restrictions are in place before you undertake harvesting on your property. It is your duty to make sure your equipment is not likely to start a fire during a ban. If it does, you could be fined. But more seriously, you would be responsible for putting your property, family and community in danger.