Fire Contacts & Resources

Volunteer Fire Brigades

The Shire of Gingin has 8 x Bush Fire Brigades spread across the Shire and 2 x Volunteer Fire & Rescue Brigades. All are manned by volunteers who generously give up their time and lay their lives on the line to defend our Shire from bush fires and assist with infrastructure fires, car accidents and more. 

A list of local brigades and the contact numbers for their Captains, Secretaries, etc. can be found as follows. This document also includes a list of useful contact numbers for other fire related contacts both within and outside of the Shire. 

Volunteer Fire Brigade Contact List

Fire Control Officers & Fire Break Contractors

Annually the Shire of Gingin requires property owners to undertake fire breaks on their properties and maintain them from 1 November to 31 May. Fire breaks are an extremely important defence method for combatting bush fires as they allow access for emergency vehicles, provide escape routes for community members, they can halt the spread of a slow moving grass fire and can also be used to start a back burn. 

During the Restricted Burning Periods of the Year (1 April - 15 May and 1 October - 30 November) property owners require a permit to carry out a burn on their property. Permits can be obtained from your local Fire Control Officer. A list of Fire Control Officers and also Fire Break Contractors (if you cannot carry out your own fire breaks) can be found below. 

Fire Control Officers

Fire Break Contractors

*Disclaimer: Contractor details are included at the Contractor's Request and inclusion in the Fire Break Orders (from which the following has been extracted) should not be taken as endorsement by the Shire of Gingin of any particular contractor.

REMEMBER - you are responsible for maintaining your fire breaks as the property owner. Always check your fire breaks to ensure that the contractor has carried out the work correctly. If your fire breaks are inspected and found to be inadequate as per the requirements of the Shire's Fire Break Orders then you could be infringed as the property owner. 

Do you have a Bush Fire Plan for your property?

Bush fires are unfortunately the downside to our summer season and here in the Shire of Gingin it is common to experience bushfires. Typically, Western Australia’s bushfire season in the Wheatbelt starts in November and continues through to April. Bush fires can often start suddenly and without warning.

The impact of bush fires on a community can be devastating and may take years to recover from so it is very important to understand the bush fire risk to your family and home and to know what to do in the event of a bush fire.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) and the Shire strongly encourage all of our community members to prepare a Bush Fire Plan so that you will know in the event of a bush fire whether you are going to stay and defend or leave. Not being prepared can be deadly so don't wait. DFES has a number of templates that you can use to create your Bush Fire Plan. Don't leave it until it's too late.   

Create my Bushfire Plan

Burning off your Bush Block safely

The Department of Fire & Emergency Services (DFES) has produced a guide which gives private landholders the tools to plan and Burn SMART on their properties so as to dramatically reduce the number of escaped burns that threaten the community.

Every year thousands of burns are successfully undertaken on private properties, however a small number escape. Nearly 75 percent of all escaped burns in Western Australia over the past three years started on private properties.

This Burn SMART guide provides community members with a comprehensive understanding about how to conduct a burn safely on your property and how to make sure you retain control of it. 

Planned burning is vital to reduce the risk of bush fires and unfortunately inexperienced property owners are often unaware of the personal responsibility that comes with lighting and extinguishing a fire.

Before conducting any planned burn, property owners should contact the Shire to confirm if any burning restrictions may apply to your area. It is also up to the property owners to confirm that there is not a Total Fire Ban (applied by DFES) or any other sort of ban in place. A ban can be placed at any time of the year (even in the Unrestricted Burning Period although this is rare) and it is the PROPERTY OWNER’S RESPONSIBILITY to check prior there is no a ban in place prior to lighting any burn. Lighting a fire during a Total Fire Ban can result in the issuing of an infringement ($1,000) with a maximum penalty of $25,000 or 1 year’s imprisonment.  

The Unrestricted Burning Period commences in the Shire of Gingin on 1 June annually (unless the Restricted Burning Period is extended due to ongoing dry conditions). Fire Permits are no longer required to burn, however undertaking any burn should be done with caution and this resource from DFES is an excellent tool for community members to utilise.

DFES Burn Smart Resources