POLICY NO. 2/2007 FIRE TRAILS - NSW Rural Fire Service

BFCC Policy 1/00 Dispute Avoidance – Dispute Resolution provides guidance if difficulty is
encountered in reaching agreed determinations.
Map Depiction of Fire Trails
There is a need to display a range of fire trail attributes on maps for a variety of purposes. Not all
attributes are required for all purposes.
Fire trails are to be depicted on maps in a consistent manner by all land managers/owners.
Depictions are to be in accordance with Annex C.
Fire Trail Signage
The purpose of marking fire trails is to convey sufficient information to fire crews on the
identification of the trail for fire fighting purposes. Consistent standards for signposting of fire trails
across NSW are provided at Annex D. The purpose of signs on fire trails is to provide information
to fire fighters to confirm the location of trails and other features. Signs for public education or
awareness purposes are outside the scope of this policy.
A sign is merely an indicator – it cannot convey all available information about a trail. The fire trail
sign is a link to another source of information about the trail: a map and/or register of trail
information, so that additional information can be sourced as required.
Fire fighting authorities’ need for signs is to ensure that fire fighting crews can check that they are
in the location they intended to be, specifically during fire fighting operations. That is, they need to
be able to check that they are in the place they were sent to, or are able to describe their location to
others.
Fire trail signs must be easily usable by fire fighters, be effective for their purpose, reliable, and it
must be realistic for land owners/mangers to install them. Fire trail signage needs to be undertaken
in the most efficient and effective means possible, recognising the need to minimise the cost of
implementation.
Signs may be prone to high levels of vandalism, theft, and degradation and trail condition can
change considerably under extreme weather conditions or through inappropriate use. Therefore
signs are only accurate at the time they were erected. Fire trail signage in no way diminishes the
responsibility of a fire fighter to inspect the condition of a fire trail prior to use, to drive within their
capacity and be able to read and understand a map.
Land management agencies and owners will determine maintenance and inspection requirements
for fire trail signs based on resources available and assessed risk.
Permanent Signs
Some permanent signs in an area are desirable. It is the prerogative of the local BFMC to decide
which signs are required for fire purposes, and for agencies to pursue funding for installation of
these. The decision as to what signage should be erected for other purposes is rightly the province
of the land owners/managers involved, and is not subject to the direction of the BFMC. It is also
reasonable for a land owner/manager to install fire trail signs for its convenience over and above
what the BFMC considers essential, if it wishes to do so.
In deciding whether to install permanent signs, the BFMC should consider:
Bush Fire Coordinating Committee – Policy No. 2/2007
Adopted by the Bush Fire Coordinating Committee – Minute No. 26/2007
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