The Rural Fire Service has issued a plea to the community to not light fires on Far South Coast beaches.
The Tuross Head Brigade responded to an incident on Wednesday night where an illegal fire had been left covered by sand but still burning.
RFS Far South Coast District Manager Chris Anderson said this is an ongoing issue in the area.
“We’ve had an number of illegal beach fires now down in that vicinity and more broadly along the Far South Coast,” Mr Anderson said.
“We really want to make it clear that these beach fires are illegal,” he said.
“People tend to try to bury these fires with sand when leaving the beach but this does not extinguish them. Embers can continue to burn under the sand.
“We all know embers can travel and we’ve seen some pretty significant wind throughout NSW and on the Far South Coast in recent days.
“It just takes one ember to start a bushfire in the dunes.”
The penalty for starting a beach fire is $2200 with additional fines and/or jail it the fire spreads and damage occurs.
