Boy, nine, lights a grass fire with a blow torch

Boy, nine, lights a grass fire with a blow torch and a camper is fined $2,200 for making a cup of tea as locals continue to defy total fire ban

  • People have continued to defy total fire bans as bushfires tear through country
  • A young man men have allegedly lit small campfire in Sydney’s west on Monday
  • Meanwhile 35-year-old man allegedly burned fen paling in cylindrical barbecue
  • NSW total fire ban extended into Wednesday restricting fire in open spaces

Three men have allegedly breached NSW’s total fire ban while a nine-year-old boy has admitted to lighting a fire with a blowtorch as blazes rage throughout the state, according to police.

Police allege the first incident saw a 27-year-old man light a small campfire at Wallacia in Sydney’s west on Monday afternoon to boil water for cups of tea.

He immediately extinguished the flames when police and firefighters arrived, and was issued an on-the-spot $2,200 infringement notice.

Three men have allegedly breached NSW’s total fire ban (firefighter picture in Hillville, south of Taree)

Hours later, police were called to a home at Prestons in Sydney’s south-west, where a 35-year-old man allegedly burned fence palings in a cylindrical barbecue.

‘Embers from this fire fell to the ground and ignited palings, causing a secondary blaze,’ NSW Police said in a statement.

Both fires were extinguished and the man was also issued an infringement notice.

The third man will face court after he allegedly lit a small coal barbecue at a Lalor Park home in Sydney’s west in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Fire and Rescue NSW extinguished the fire and the 46-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with a total fire ban and breach of bail.

He’s due to appear in a local court on Tuesday.

The nine-year-old, due to his age, was warned under the Young Offenders Act after a small grass fire broke out behind a street in Nowra on the South Coast about 11.35am on Tuesday.

Police say the boy, who was with a group of other children, admitted to lighting the fire with a blowtorch.

The total state-wide fire ban remains in place and has been extended into Wednesday.

It means people cannot light, maintain or use a fire in the open, or carry out any activity in the open that causes, or is likely to cause, a fire.  

A nine-year-old boy was warned by police after he allegedly lit a small grass fire by using a blowtorch in Nowra (stock image)

A nine-year-old boy was warned by police after he allegedly lit a small grass fire by using a blowtorch in Nowra (stock image)

 

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