Burning Off

The CFA recently lifted the summer-long ban on open-air burning. Once again, residents of the hills are permitted to burn yard waste on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Fires have to be kept small, be attended continually, and have a supply of water nearby to dose the fire if needed. The material burned must be completely dry - to keep smoke levels down.

"Burning off" is not something we're particularly wild about. On burn-off days, the air is clogged with smoke - especially since it seems there are at least a few people who are happy to ignore the rules about not burning green or wet material.

And there are a few who ignore the "approved" burning days and burn whenever it's convenient for them. For example - today is Wednesday - NOT an approved burn-off day - but look at the smoke on the ridge opposite ours. That "blue" you see in the above picture isn't fog - it's smoke.

There is a fortnightly "green waste" collection - for those who have signed up for it and pay the extra charges. For a fee, you get a special rubbish bin with a green lid - and the rubbish collectors will empty that bin every other week. The bin holds a fair bit of material, but when you consider the amount of yard waste that accumulates on properties here on Mount Dandenong, well, it's nowhere near enough. The "green bins" are more a symbolic gesture than a serious alternative to burning.

Our first year here, we didn't feel comfortable doing a burn-off. Twelve or so years of drought had the forest tindery, and it was just too scary to go out into the yard and light a fire. Instead of burning, we collected yard waste in the garage. When the pile became big enough, we hired a 3-cubit-meter skip, filled it, and paid to have it hauled away. It was expensive - really expensive. And we could easily fill a skip like that two or three times every year. Eventually we overcame our anxiety and found a safe place on the property for burning - a spot well away from the house and any bushes/trees that might catch fire.

Stephen and I have been piling up yard waste all summer. We've got a couple of considerable piles of twigs, bark, branches, fern fronds, blackberry and holly that's been drying out over the summer. As soon as we have an approved burning-off day with the right weather conditions (dry, very little wind), we'll drag the dried material bit-by-bit over to the burning area and set it alight.

I wish there were a cost-effective alternative, but there isn't. And, because we live in a fire-prone area, letting the branches, bark and whatnot lay in the yard where it falls isn't an option.