Firebugs hunted over suspicious blazes at Manly Vale and Dee Why during bushfire emergency
Police suspect arsonists were responsible for blazes that broke out on the northern beaches during the catastrophic bush fire emergency.
Manly
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Police are hunting firebugs after at least two fires were deliberately lit on the northern beaches during Tuesday’s statewide bushfire emergency.
People discarding cigarette butts on a day with hot dry winds and temperatures reaching 37 degrees, caused another two blazes.
The Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue were called to Passmore Reserve at Manly Vale about 4.45pm on Tuesday after police officers driving on Pittwater Rd spotted smoke.
Firefighters and police discovered the blaze in scrub along the southern bank of Manly Creek, which flows into Manly Lagoon.
The fire, which was quickly put out, was close to a children’s playground on the northern side of the reserve.
“A canvass of the fire scene was conducted and there were no obvious signs of ignition sources located,” a police spokesman said.
“The fire appeared to have started at the edge of a walking path and travelled towards the
creek.
“The location was not near any power lines nor any other sources of ignition, police believe this fire was deliberately lit.”
About 4.20pm a person walking on Dee Why Beach saw a man aged in his early 20s, acting suspiciously in adjoining bushland.
The witness then saw a small fire in the scrub where the man had been standing. He tried to put the fire out before calling triple-0. Firefighters were able to put the fire out before it spread.
Police found a glass pipe used to smoke the prohibited drug ice, a bong used to smoke cannabis and several cigarette butts nearby.
The man seen near the fire had dyed pink/red hair and was wearing blackboard shorts.
Earlier in the day firefighters were called to a small fire in a drain on the edge of the Wakehurst Parkway at Frenchs Forest.
Police said it appeared a discarded cigarette butt, near the intersection with Frenchs Forest Rd West, had set fire to dry leaves in the drain.
About 3pm firefighters were called to a grass fire along Ponderosa Pde at Warriewood that appeared to be started by a discarded cigarette.
No property was damaged.
At 8.30pm, a wooden house set alight in Cheryl Cres, Newport, after an exterior light fitting exploded.
The occupant heard the sound and rushed outside to see the fixture alight. She called triple zero and fetched the hose from the backyard in an effort to extinguish the fire.
NSW Fire Rescue arrived shortly after and helped put the fire out.
Police said that apart from the small fires “the Beaches has ended the day in good shape”.
“We’ve done this through a combination of the community reporting these fires as they’ve started and the wonderfully swift response of RFS and full-time (NSW Fire and Rescue) crews to stop them taking hold,” the spokesman said.
“We made it through today in very large part because of our community’s help and support for our emergency service crews and volunteers.
“This is the only way we can get through not just a day, but the entire summer, without injury, damage or loss of life.
“Thanks all for today.”