
24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires - bookofjoe
https://www.newsweek.com/australia-wildfires-arson-new-south-wales-police-1480733
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jb12
Australian here. Reckon our local news source might have better context when
dealing with NSW police: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/teenager-
among-180-people-fa...](https://www.smh.com.au/national/teenager-
among-180-people-facing-legal-action-over-lighting-fires-20200107-p53pla.html)

> This fire season, police have taken legal action - ranging from cautions to
> charges - against 180 people including 24 people charged over deliberately
> lit bushfires, 53 who allegedly failed to comply with a total fire ban and
> 47 who allegedly discarded a lit cigarette or match.

These are all separate charges. The 47 people who discarded lit ciggies likely
got cautioned or fined, the 24 who lit fires are going to end up in gaol.

There are currently 131 fires burning in NSW alone, according to the RFS[0].
Not all of them were caused by arson, many of them are caused by lightning
strikes and other natural causes. The reason this year is so bad is because of
the drought that has increased the amount of fuel and hampered our ability to
backburn, and cuts to funding in firefighting services.

[0]: [https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-
me](https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me)

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legitster
The headline is misleading. In the actual article, these weren't people
deliberately trying to create wildfires, just selfish people flouting the fire
ban and having a campfire/bbq. Presumably, at least.

*Edit: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/teenager-among-180-people-fa...](https://www.smh.com.au/national/teenager-among-180-people-facing-legal-action-over-lighting-fires-20200107-p53pla.html) More details. There was deliberate arson (like a teenager setting fire to cars), but not intentionally aimed at burning down forests.

~~~
bookofjoe
From the article:

>Police in Australia have arrested and charged two dozen people they say
deliberately lit blazes during the wildfire season that has so far killed at
least 18 people, destroyed thousands of homes and ravaged over 10 million
acres of land.

>New South Wales police said that since the beginning of November, 24 people
have been charged over allegedly deliberately lighting fires as officers
continue to investigate the role that arson has played in the devastation.
Starting a wildfire can result in a jail sentence of up to 21 years.

~~~
legitster
"Deliberately lit blazes" definitely sounds intentional, but the rest of the
details is so scant on details other than accidents that I have to presume
stupidity over malice.

~~~
SkyBelow
Is there a formal enough definition of 'blazes' that we can be sure it isn't
talking about a blaze in a BBQ grill or something similar and instead is
referring to an act of arson?

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nesky
> New South Wales police said that since the beginning of November, 24 people
> have been charged over allegedly deliberately lighting fires as officers
> continue to investigate the role that arson has played in the devastation.

> Police in the state have also taken legal action against a further 159
> people. Among them are 53 people who allegedly failed to comply with a total
> fire ban and 47 people who allegedly discarded a lit cigarette or match on
> land.

So is the premise these people deliberately attempted to set wildfires ablaze
or are they charging them with arson for ignoring a total fire ban?

~~~
harikb
I think this is also part of the disinformation campaign. AU's current
administration has a lot bet on proving some other root cause and the not
caused by ruling coal lobby.

~~~
t-writescode
Exactly this. They have found the scapegoats and are now going to enact
extreme and cruel destruction on them, likely beyond what can be considered
‘justice’ so the people feel good about what has happened.

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amanzi
On a related note: Twitter bots and trolls promote conspiracy theories about
Australian bushfires

[https://www.zdnet.com/article/twitter-bots-and-trolls-
promot...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/twitter-bots-and-trolls-promote-
conspiracy-theories-about-australian-bushfires/)

------
thecleaner
Shouldn't this be removed for the misleading title ? This hints as if the
fires were caused solely by arson which is not the case here.

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rdtsc
What's the idea there? Insurance fraud, just causing chaos?

~~~
justinator
I really hope it's just not an entire continent out for blood.

~~~
jb12
That's not really how it works in Australia. We're more focussed on (in
order):

1\. Helping the people who lost everything 2\. Holding the country's
leadership to account on why they refused to meet with fire experts before
this season. 3\. Prosecuting arsonists under the laws we have

You'll note that their names weren't shared, and they will be dealt with in
our legal system like any other offender, from underage drinkers all the way
to Cardinals in the Catholic Church.

But people starting fires (intentionally or not) is not new in Australia,
sadly. What is different this year is the conditions that caused the scale of
the destruction, funding cuts to fire services and the prime minister refusing
to meet with fire experts, who were trying to warn him that this was going to
happen.

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rlt
It doesn't sound like terrorism (or even intentional arson) in this case, but
I've always thought dry, windy, wildland-urban interface areas would be
vulnerable to terrorist attacks. No smuggling of explosives etc needed, just a
few guys in cars with some molotov cocktails.

(and now I'm on "a list"...)

------
Huycfhct
And no fines for the people that pumped CO2 into the atmosphere and warned the
climate

