Mid North Coast Police detective Inspector Peter O'Reilly provides an update on suspected deliberately lit bushfires.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 About 4pm last Tuesday afternoon, emergency services were called to a bushfire on McGuire's
00:06 crossing road at Belmore River, east of Kempsey.
00:10 It was a significant fire which has since burned out approximately 3,000 hectares through
00:16 the Hathead National Park.
00:18 That fire posed significant threat to Hathead during that evening and isolated the township
00:24 for a period of time.
00:27 Our investigators have teamed with investigators from the State Crime Command arson squad to
00:32 investigate the circumstances of that fire following our initial investigations which
00:38 would indicate that the ignition was deliberate.
00:43 We are seeking assistance from the public to provide us with information.
00:49 A white Nissan Patrol Trayback utility was seen in the area at the time.
00:55 The utility had a broken taillight.
00:58 We are very interested to identify the driver or the people who were occupying that vehicle
01:03 at the time as part of our investigation.
01:06 As part of our investigations, NSW Police will work with the RFS on fires, the circumstances
01:14 and the origin of those fires and the investigations around that for this fire and a couple of
01:21 other fires which occurred on that day indicate that they have been deliberately lit.
01:26 It posed a threat to the township of Hathead on that night and the township was isolated
01:33 for several hours.
01:36 We take this very seriously.
01:38 These people lighting these fires are posing significant threat to the lives and property
01:43 of people in our community.
01:46 We call to the public that if they have information, if they have CCTV footage, if they know of
01:53 this particular vehicle to contact the investigators at Kempsey Police Station or if they wish
01:59 to they can also speak with Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
02:05 Thank you.
02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]