A YOUNG man has been ordered to serve 50 hours of community service over two fires lit in dry Hunter bushland during a total fire ban last year.
Cessnock Local Court heard on Tuesday that Jack Drayton set a mattress alight at Pelaw Main only a few hours before he travelled in a car with his co-accused, who lit grassland at Kearsley in October last year.
The Kearsley fire sparked a major response from emergency services - the blaze jumped roads and threatened homes before it was extinguished the following day.
Drayton pleaded guilty to one charge of intentionally causing fire and being reckless as to its spread, while three other counts were dropped.
The court heard on Tuesday that the lone charge to which Drayton pleaded covered both fires, though he was considered an "accessory" - not the principal offender - in relation to the second, more damaging, blaze because he remained in the car while his co-accused allegedly ignited the grass.
Magistrate Ian Rodgers said the matter was Drayton's first before a court and there was "significant evidence" of his rehabilitation and efforts to turn his life around, though he said the Kearsley fire was a "dangerous set of circumstances indeed".
He sentenced Drayton to an 18-month Community Correction Order, which means the 21-year-old will need to be of good behaviour, under the supervision of Community Corrections, and perform 50 hours of community service work.
Drayton's co-accused remains before the courts in relation to the fires and is due to appear before a magistrate again next month.
According to a statement of agreed facts tendered to the court, Drayton and the other man drove together to Crown land at Leggetts Drive, Pelaw Main, just before 9am on October 3 - a day the Rural Fire Service declared a total fire ban due to hot and dry conditions.
The spot is notorious as an illegal dumping ground so Cessnock City Council installed CCTV cameras in the area.
Those cameras captured Drayton light a mattress and leave it "engulfed" in flames as he and his co-accused drove from the scene.
A passer-by alerted the Rural Fire Service.
Then, about 12.30pm, the pair travelled in the Hyundai i30 to bushland near the Kitchener East Trail at Kearsley. Drayton remained in the car while his co-accused got out and lit grassland.
The fire prompted a major multi-agency response.
"Numerous road blocks were put in place as the fire continued to jump roads, and threaten nearby houses," the statement of facts said.
"An emergency was declared for the Abernethy and Elrington suburbs advising all occupants it was to [sic] late to leave, and to seek shelter immediately.
"The fire was ultimately controlled and the following day extinguished."
