Check the Fire and Emergency Fire Risk map.
Updated info
Please note: the info below is now out of date. Until we have time to correct this page, please see: Fires and smoke at Waikawa Beach: Horowhenua District Council manage smoke nuisance complaints which need to be phoned through at the time. 06 366 0999
, and all beach and sand dune areas remain in a Prohibited Fire Season (Total Fire Ban) 365 days a Year.
Fires in this Total Fire Ban area
So you want to have an outdoor fire but you know this entire area is under a Total Fire Ban all year round? Luckily, it’s an easy thing to deal with. There are no fires allowed on the beach, ever, but in your own back yard you just need to get a free permit.
Gas barbecues don’t need a permit, but fire pits and all other fires do.
Call Fire Emergency on 0800 658 628 or visit their website for information and an online application.
Lighting a fire in this area without a permit is against the law and penalties are steep: 2 years in prison and a $300,000 fine.
If you cause damage to property with your fire then your insurance won’t cover it unless you also have public liability insurance.
So, make sure you get that free permit, then you can sit back and enjoy your open air fire, just not on the beach.
If you insist on risking the huge penalties and light a fire on the beach anyway please extinguish it completely with buckets of water before you leave. Covering a fire with sand does not extinguish it and it will smoulder for hours. Do you really want to thank Waikawa Beach for its hospitality by setting it on fire?
Be aware it can take emergency services at least 20 minutes to reach Waikawa Beach. By then plenty of our homes could burn down.
Fire Service water tanks
Horowhenua District Council own several water tanks around us. The Council has an obligation to make sure they are in good order and filled for Fire Fighting purposes:
- Waikawa Beach Road: concrete
- Emma Drive: upvc x2
- Kirsten Way: upvc x2
- Waikawa Beach Road Town: concrete
- Sand Dune Grove: under ground
- Arthur Street: concrete
Tales of fires past
From: Summer Holiday Newsletter 2013/14.
8 December 2007
Nine fire trucks from Levin, Otaki and Te Horo, and a helicopter with monsoon bucket responded to the scrub fire at the northern end of the pine plantation. The blaze is believed to have been triggered by fireworks.
The ute that got stuck trying to cross the river has since been written off.
Thanks to Ngaire Hunter and Cameron Walker for the use of their photos.
From: Fire at Waikawa December 2007
17 October 2011: It was sad to see a house gutted by fire in Sarah Street at Waikawa Beach on the evening of 17 October 2011. The fire which appeared to have started in the kitchen had destroyed the back half of the house by the time fire engines arrived.
From: House Gutted by Fire.