Nelson Fujita Palmer in court for setting fire to vegetation

A homeless man trying to stay warm has been branded an arsonist after being convicted of starting a fire at Bells Bridge that burnt out 2ha.

A 28-year-old former Ipswich man fronted the Gympie District Court on Monday after setting fire to 2ha of bushland at Bells Bridge in 2021.

Nelson Fujita Palmer appeared in Gympie District Court via video link and pleaded guilty to starting the fire.

The court heard Palmer was travelling north to Cairns along the Bruce Hwy after his brother kicked him out of the Ipswich home they shared after he lost his job.

On the night of the fire, Palmer was travelling from Gympie to Maryborough when he got lost.

He decided to camp for the night, and used a BIC lighter to set a patch of grass on fire in hopes of starting a campfire.

Nelson Fujita Palmer (pictured here in 2017) pleaded guilty to setting fire to vegetation. Photo: Facebook

But this quickly spiralled out of control.

The court heard Palmer walked away from the scene upon realising this, while a resident less than 100m away called firefighters.

When they arrived, the blaze had spread to an area of 800 square metres, but had burnt out an area of 2ha by the time it was completely extinguished 40 minutes later.

Palmer told police he had tried to put the fire out with a branch, but was arrested at the scene and taken into custody.

Defence barrister Amelia Loode said the fire was “relatively small” and not a threat to any nearby buildings.

She said Palmer had spent 283 days in presentence custody.

Judge Ian Dearden sentenced him to 283 days behind bars, with the time already spent in custody declared as time served.