Man allegedly abuses CFA members trying to put out fire
CFA members were allegedly abused when they tried to put out a fire lit by a man in Gippsland on Friday. The man is one of four being investigated for lighting fires over the past week.
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A man turned on firefighters when they arrived to extinguish a fire he lit on a day of total fire ban.
The 50-year-old Golden Beach man had lit the fire in a pit at Golden Beach in Gippsland on Friday, causing Country Fire Authority officers to head for the scene.
“It’s alleged the man became abusive towards CFA members when they attended to extinguish the fire,” a Victoria Police spokesman said.
Police are expected to charge the man at a later date.
He was one of four people interviewed over lighting fires in breach of the total fire ban.
A 70-year-old Longford woman tried to burn rubbish in a paddock at Longford, near Sale, in perilous conditions.
A 37-year-old Dromana man was interviewed after allegedly lighting a fire to cook a meal at Clydebank.
And last Saturday, a 21-year-old Narre Warren man was interviewed for trying to cook with fire at a campsite at Paradise Beach.
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The police spokesman said it was an offence to light a fire on a total fire ban day without a Section 40 permit from the CFA.
“Penalties for lighting a fire on a total fire ban include maximum two years jail or a large fine,” the spokesman said.
Police were meanwhile investigating whether an arsonist was to blame for grass fires in Grantville.
CFA firefighters quickly extinguished two small grass fires that broke out in the Gippsland town during Friday’s dangerous conditions.
A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed the fires were “being treated as suspicious”.