Brody John Michael Gomersall sentenced for damaging property following skip fire

An Injune local with a history of fire rescues has found himself in court after he ignited a bin in an effort to stop documents, diaries and ammunition from falling into the wrong hands.

An Injune local hailed a hero after rescuing an elderly man from a burning car in June 2024 has fronted court for setting ablaze a council-owned skip bin.

Brody John Michael Gomersall, 29, appeared in the Roma Magistrates Court this week and pleaded guilty to one count of damaging property following an August 30, 2025 incident.

The court was told Gomersall and a co-offender - who is yet to be sentenced - were captured on CCTV at a Maranoa Regional Council dump facility setting fire to the contents of a large skip.

After watching the fire engulf the bin the pair then left the facility and observed from a nearby mill until the fire went out before leaving.

Gomersall’s lawyer told the court his client had been dropping off rubbish at the dump when he noticed diaries and documents belonging to someone he knew alongside spent and new bullets.

Knowing the man who the documents and diaries belonged to as “a good bloke” and not wanting them to fall into the wrong hands or the bullets to be found incorrectly disposed of he decided to set the bin alight.

Gomersall was previously in the news for his heroic efforts to save an elderly man who had crashed into a tree while driving along Jandowae Connection Rd in 2024.

Trapped in a flaming car with a jerry can in the back seat, Gomersall snapped into action, saving the driver while suffering burns and cuts to his arms.

Thanks to Gomersall’s quick thinking the elderly man escaped with just a lower leg injury.

This wasn't Gomersall’s first brush with fire rescue however, helping to save a caretaker who had fallen and broken their arm at a Gin Gin station during the 2010 bushfires at the age of 12 and treating people who had sustained burns in the burnout pits at the Red CentreNATS in the Northern Territory.

Magistrate Michael Wood acknowledged while his “heart was in the right place” his decision had posed a “risk to himself and others”

He was fined $1000 and a conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Brody John Michael Gomersall sentenced for damaging property following skip fire