Blake Banner: Fire investigator found behaviour ‘suspicious and alarming’
A fire investigator has told the court a former volunteer firefighter could not have seen the glow of a fire before he turned up to it in full firefighting gear last year.
The South Coast News
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The trial of a former south coast volunteer firefighter charged with lighting seven separate fires over five weeks last year has heard a fire investigator found his behaviour “suspicious and alarming”.
Former Tarraganda Brigade volunteer firefighter Blake William Banner, 20, faced day three of his judge-alone trial on Wednesday after pleading not guilty to lighting seven separate fires in and around Bega between October and November last year.
Far South Coast District Officer for the NSW Rural Fire Service and fire investigator, Garry Cooper, told the court he investigated a number of fires initially “just for his own interest” as they appeared suspicious.
He told the court his suspicions grew following his investigations into a fire on October 30 on the Princes Highway at Bega, and at the Bega River on November 11.
“My initial thoughts were around the suspicious behaviour of Tarraganda member Blake Banner,” Mr Cooper told the court.
He told the court his investigations, which became official, found a flame was used to start the fires.
The court heard he brought his suspicions to the attention of police after hearing Banner had been the triple-O caller for a fire on October 17 at Tarraganda and had attended the bypass fire in full firefighting uniform without being paged to attend as a firefighter.
Mr Cooper told police he “believed” Banner to be a person of interest as he had attended all but one of the seven fires, and described his behaviour as “suspicious and alarming”.
He told the court he knew of Banner through his parents, NSW Police officers Jennifer Westaway and Steven Banner.
Defence barrister Paul Williams said the scene of the October 17 fire was “frequented by children” and, in reference to the November 11 bypass fire, questioned why is was unusual for an off-duty firefighter to be at the scene of a fire.
The court heard Banner had seen the “glow” of the bypass fire while leaving the town’s Woolworths store.
“I don’t believe, in my professional opinion, the glow would be bright enough to see from Woolworths,” Mr Cooper told the court.
Mr Williams told the court a number of fires were lit in the area between October last year and January this year, not linked by police to Banner.
He told the court police had chased away a number of “juveniles” from a fire near the Bega bridge on October 13 last year and a small scrub fire had been found by police near Bega in September last year.
He told the court a small scrub fire had started at Taronga Crescent in Bega after Banner’s arrest and in early January this year a grass fire had started beside the Princes Highway at Bega.
He also told the court police had requested a fire investigator attend a fire on a property at Black Range outside Bega in March this year.
Mr Cooper told the court he “could be in the dark” about details as most of the fires listed by Mr Williams fell under the jurisdiction of Fire and Rescue NSW, not the NSW Rural Fire Service.
He told the court he was “not aware” of any obligation the NSW Rural Fire Service has to report fires to police.
The court heard a female police officer will be subpoenaed to give evidence for the defence alongside Banner’s parents.
The trial continues.
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