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New Zealand Legislation: Acts

Acts are laws made by Parliament

Reprint as at 3 December 2007

Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977

Public Act	1977 No 52
Date of assent	21 November 1977

Note

Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this eprint.

A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this eprint, together with other explanatory material about this eprint.

This Act is administered in the Department of Internal Affairs

Contents

1 Short Title and commencement

2 Interpretation

3 Act to bind Crown

3A Delegation of powers by Minister of Forestry [Repealed]

3B Delegation of powers by Secretary [Repealed]

Part 1
Fire control organisation

Rural fire districts and specially protected property

4 Rural fire districts

5 Preliminary steps before rural fire district constituted or boundaries changed

6 Specially protected property

Fire Authorities

7 Fire Authority in rural fire districts

7A New Zealand Forestry Corporation Rural Fire District [Repealed]

8 Rural fire committees

9 Fire Authority's powers in areas of urban vegetation

10 Fire Authority in territorial areas

11 Fire Authority in State areas

11A Fire safety margins

11B Exclusion of land from fire safety margin

12 Duties of Fire Authorities

13 Fire Officers and other employees

14 Joint, etc, exercise of statutory fire control powers

15 Supply of apparatus and fire fighting services

16 Mutual arrangements for fire control measures

17 Forest areas

Part 2
Fire control operations

Fire prediction and fire control measures

18 Obligations of Rural Fire Authorities and National Rural Fire Authority in respect of fire control measures

19 Fire control measures

Control of lighting of fires in open air

20 Prohibition of fires during extreme fire hazard

21 Prohibition of certain operations during periods of extreme fire hazard

22 Restricted or prohibited fire seasons

23 Permits required to light fires in open air

24 Special permits when lighting of fires in open air prohibited

Control of spread of fire to state areas, forest areas, and specially protected property

25 Spread of fires to State areas, forest areas, and specially protected property

Miscellaneous precautions against outbreaks of fire

26 Offence to leave burning or smouldering substance

27 Fire Authority may require firebreaks to be made or cleared

28 Appeal from notice to make firebreak or escape route or remove combustible material

29 Power of Fire Authority on default of owner

30 Regulations may require maintenance of fire fighting equipment by rural fire committees

31 Restriction on operation of spark-hazardous engines

32 Restriction on entry into exotic forests, etc

33 Maintenance of apparatus by persons cutting timber

34 Duties of licensees, etc, of State areas

Fire suppression

35 Duty of persons in vicinity to endeavour to extinguish fires

36 Powers of Principal Fire Officers or Rural Fire Officers at fires

37 Police to assist Fire Officers

38 Requisition by Fire Officer of assistance to extinguish fires

39 Regional fire emergency

Part 3
Fire control finance

41 Liability for costs

42 Charge for use of another fire brigade

43 Recovery from person responsible for fire

44 Estimate of proposed expenditure

45 Provisions for meeting ordinary requirements of the Fire Authority of a rural fire district

46 Levy for costs of fire fighting in districts other than State areas

46A Levy for costs of fire fighting in fire safety margins attached to State areas

47 Levy for costs of fire fighting in State areas [Repealed]

48 Imposition of levies, and recovery of levies and other money

49 Appeals against levies and determinations

50 Expenditure by territorial authorities [Repealed]

51 Payment of fire control costs following regional fire emergency

52 Appeal against apportionment of fire fighting costs in regional fire emergency

53 Right of recovery in certain cases

54 Fire Authority may borrow money

Part 4
General provisions

55 Damage in fire fighting to be damage by fire within meaning of fire policy

56 Saving of Fire Authorities and Fire Officers, etc, from liability in certain cases

57 No action against Fire Authority for failure to provide against fire

58 Inspections for purposes of Act

59 Inquiries as to fires

60 Measures by local authorities and public bodies to remove certain fire hazards

60A Imposition of annual levy on Fire Authorities [Repealed]

60B Rate of levy [Repealed]

60C Recovery of amount of levy [Repealed]

60D Failure to supply return [Repealed]

60E Penalty for late payment [Repealed]

60F Amount of goods and services tax included [Repealed]

62 Time within which information may be laid

64 Panel of persons who may be appointed as Rural Fire Mediators

64A Rural Fire Mediators

65 Appeals from decision of Rural Fire Mediator

66 Annual report

68 Reserve powers of Minister of Forestry [Repealed]

69 Consequential amendments

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the safeguarding of life and property by the prevention, detection, control, restriction, suppression and extinction of fire in forest and rural areas and other areas of vegetation

BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: