Townsville Correctional Centre: Man charged after prison residential property was set on fire
A 38-year-old man allegedly set fire to a building that housed some of Queensland’s most notorious convicted sex offenders. Read the details.
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A man has been charged after a building housing some of Queensland’s worst convicted sexual offenders was significantly damaged in a fire.
A 38-year-old has been charged with arson after the Julago building fire on Friday.
The man appeared in Townsville Magistrates Court on Saturday and was remanded in custody.
His matter will be heard again on August 12.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the fire at the Townsville Correctional Centre property on the Bruce Highway near Lowe Road in Julago at 11.37am on Friday.
Queensland Fire Department, which deployed six fire crews, said the fire was brought under control by 12.35pm and fully extinguished at 1.25pm.
A well-placed source said the fire occurred in a cluster of three houses referred to as “The Precinct”.
The precinct houses sex offenders on the Dangerous Prisoners Sex Offender Act (DPSOA) orders managed by Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) High Risk Offender Management Unit (HROMU).
The convicted sex offenders have finished their respective sentences but are deemed too high risk to be released back into the community.
A QCS spokesperson confirmed the location of the fire, saying the building had been badly damaged in the blaze, the cause of which was under investigation.
Queensland Police Service confirmed it was taking the lead in the investigation.
“No one was injured during the incident,” a QPS spokesperson said.
“A crime scene has been declared and investigations into the cause of the fire is ongoing.”
Initial: Blaze reported on Townsville Correctional Centre property
A house on the grounds of the Townsville Correctional Centre is on fire, emergency services say.
Queensland Fire Department confirmed the property was well ablaze when first called to the unfolding incident in Julago at 11.37am on Friday.
A QFD spokeswoman said the fire was a house on prison property in the Townsville Correctional Centre in Stuart.
Queensland Ambulance Service also confirmed it was on the scene of what was reported as a house “heavily on fire”.
Both QFD and QAS said it was too early to confirm if there were any injuries.
Queensland Police Service confirmed it was investigating a “building fire in Julago”.
“A crime scene has been declared and investigations into the cause of the fire is ongoing.”
A QAS spokesperson said the building was on the Bruce Highway near Lowe Road.
“No one was injured during the incident.”
Queensland Corrective Services confirmed that the fire occurred at a building on the Townsville Correctional Complex reserve on Friday morning.
“Emergency services are on the scene near the men’s low security farm and all officers and offenders have been accounted for,” a spokesperson said.
“QCS will assist Queensland Police and Queensland Fire to investigate the cause of the fire.”
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Originally published as Townsville Correctional Centre: Man charged after prison residential property was set on fire
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