Teenager charged after large bushfire caused $10m in damage to pine plantation
A 19-year-old man will appear in court after allegedly lighting a bushfire which destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest and timber plantation and took over a week to put out.
NSW
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A teenager has been charged after a deliberately lit bushfire near Tamworth destroyed millions of dollars worth of pine plantation.
On October 27 2019 an out of control bushfire ignited in Nundle State Forest on Goddo’s Rd in the New England region, destroying 533ha of forest.
The fire saw the local area declared a state of emergency, with RFS firefighters battling to contain the blaze, which raged for over a week.
Tasmanian firefighters were flown in to help stem the flames with the help of over 100 forestry workers after the blaze impacted local timber plantations.
Forestry Corporation Walcha district manager Gary Miller said at the time up to $10 million worth of pine timber plantation could have been destroyed.
“We‘re still trying to calculate it, but in terms of value to NSW, somewhere between $5-$10 million,“ Mr Miller told The Leader.
A Forestry Corporation spokesperson confirmed about 800ha of pine plantation was impacted by the Goddo’s Rd fire but “most” of the timber was salvaged in some form.
Salvage efforts at the plantation are ongoing, but police began investigating the fire after it was found to be deliberately lit.
Officers involved in the investigation were told 200 litres of diesel fuel had been stolen from a logging excavator inside Nundle State Forest on October 26 or October 27.
After extensive investigations police arrested a 19 year-old man at a home in Bridgeman, near Singleton about 12:45pm on Tuesday.
The 19 year-old was taken to Singleton Police Station and charged with intentionally causing a fire and being reckless about its spread, and larceny.
He was granted conditional bail to appear in a children’s court on July 13.
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