A property owner has copped a $500 fine and a conviction for burning off rubbish within the fire danger period.
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In April this year, police driving on the Loddon Valley Highway noticed a large fire as they approached Serpentine.
The property owner, Benjamin Hunt, said he was burning old weatherboards and he thought the fire danger period had lifted, although admitted he had not checked.
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Hunt pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court this week to lighting a fire in the danger period.
Magistrate Marc Sargent fined Hunt and told him it was the responsibility of anyone who lit a fire in the open air to check for possible restrictions.
This year's fire danger period has now started for most of the region and will remain in place until May 2020.
For more information, visit the CFA website.
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