A man from the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has been arrested for allegedly deliberately lighting grassfires in NSW's south-west.
Key points:
- The 30-year-old man was charged with five counts of intentionally causing fire
- Police suspect 30 fires have been deliberately lit in Whitton in the last three months
- It follows a horror Black Summer last year, where 33 people died
NSW Police began an investigation into more than 30 suspicious fires that had been lit in Whitton, about 40 kilometres south of Griffith.
The 30-year-old man was arrested at home at 11:00am on Friday.
He was a volunteer member of the NSW RFS but has been since discharged following his arrest.
Police will allege the man lit dozens of fires in the region between November 2020 and January 2021.
Officers searched the home and seized "items of interest for forensic examination", though did not specify what exactly was found.
The man was taken to Griffith Police Station and charged with five counts of intentionally causing fire and being reckless as to its spread.
He was refused bail to appear at Wagga Wagga Bail Court yesterday and will appear in the local court on Wednesday.
It comes after a horror 2019-2020 bushfire season, which saw 5.4 million hectares of land burnt in NSW.
More than 3,000 homes were destroyed, and 3 billion animals were killed or displaced.
A total of 33 people perished in what came to be known as 'Black Summer', including six Australian firefighters and three American aerial firefighters who died when their aircraft collided with terrain.
This summer, NSW has been spared the brunt of another bushfire season, however fires were raging in Western Australia earlier this month.
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2021-01-24 01:20:00Z
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