All land holders are responsible for managing the bushfire fuel on their own land. This means that planned burns may be undertaken by: The Parks and Wildlife Service in National Parks, Nature Reserves, State Forests and other conservation reserves; local governments on their reserves; and farmers, pastoralists or members of the community on private property. Under State policies, DFES is responsible for managing fuels on Unallocated Crown Land (UCL) within townsites and the Parks and Wildlife Service on all other UCL.
DFES and Parks and Wildlife Service go through a careful planning process before conducting a burn, to ensure that burning is safe and has the smallest possible impact on the community. Prescribed burns are only undertaken when the conditions identified during the planning process have been met and when it is safe to do so. In this respect, due to the limited opportunities available to safely proceed, it is not always possible to avoid wind directions that send smoke over populated areas. Burning in the Perth Hills can be particularly challenging due to the proximity to Perth and the prevailing wind directions during the burning season.
The Parks and Wildlife Service works closely with the Bureau of Meteorology and uses the best available information at the time of burn approval to avoid burning in conditions where smoke may be trapped near the ground and reach harmful levels.
For more information on prescribed burns and smoke related haze, please visit the following websites: