With increased risk of bush and scrub fires, particularly during the summer season, it is essential that all precautions are taken to avoid the risk of fire starting at an MNZ-permitted event.

The following guidelines have been developed to assist Clubs planning events in very dry conditions:

• Check with your local territory authority on rules around hosting events in drought conditions (eg. is having the fire service on standby a requirement?)
• Check with the landowner that they are still willing for the event to proceed if conditions have changed since permission was granted
• Under no circumstances light fires at the event
• Do not include a fireworks display at the event
• Do not have a BBQ at the event
• Events held in forestry (trails rides, enduro, cross country) should include a requirement for all bikes to carry a small fire extinguisher, and competitors/participants should be notified in advance
• Have a stock of fire extinguishers for sale at the event for those who don’t bring one
• Riders without a fire extinguisher should be excluded from the event
• Ensure all sweep riders and marshals carry fire extinguishers
• Ensure multiple fire extinguishers are on site and located throughout the pits/paddock area and around other key areas of the track (eg. motocross and road race meetings should have one at each flag point)
• Inform riders and marshals at their morning briefings about the location of fire extinguishers and how to use them
• Even for events where fire extinguishers are not compulsory, encourage competitors to have their own extinguisher in pit areas
• Ensure all long grass around pit and parking areas is mown down as far as possible.
• Ensure that designated smoking areas are sign-posted and equipped with sand buckets. Ban smoking anywhere at the event other than the designated area.
• Ensure there is a reliable way of contacting emergency services if a fire does break out – not all areas may have mobile phone coverage.
• Ensure all marshals have radio contact to someone who can contact emergency services and know the GPS coordinates to give to emergency services.
• Have an evacuation plan in case of a fire. Run through the procedure at all briefings and prompt questions to ensure everyone present is fully aware of the plan
• If in doubt, postpone your event until the fire risk is lower