By Tony O’Riley-
A19-year-old volunteer fire fighter in Australia has been charged with arson and accused of lighting seven fires in the Bega Valley area, New South Wales.
The teen volunteer with the Rural Fire Service, Blake William Banner, allegedly lit a fire on Tuesday afternoon next to the Bega river, left before leaving the area and returned to fight the fire for the RFS. Australians have been left horrified by the news after New South Wales has endured an apocalyptic level of bush fires that destroyed hundreds of homes and killed over half a dozen residents in recent weeks.
Mr. Banner was arrested at a Tarraganda fire shed within two hours of the fire, and was charged with causing the fire as well as six others since Oct 17.
On Wednesday he appeared before Bega Local Court and was granted conditional bail, to return to the court on Dec 17.
The NSW RFS stood down the fire fighter immediately.
“Our members will be rightly angry that the alleged actions of one individual can tarnish the reputation and hard work of so many,” RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said in a statement on Wednesday.
“This type of alleged behaviour is the ultimate betrayal of our own members, and of the broader community.”
A 23-year-old volunteer firefighter was sentenced to three years and four months jail for lighting three bush fire in Western Australia.Prosecutors expect that sentence to set a precedent for the minimum to be given to evil mr.Banner.
The NSW police service’s Strikeforce Tronto investigated 1,500 suspicious fires from 2001 to 2004. These investigations resulted in 50 people being charged, and 11 of them were volunteer firefighters – out of a then 69,000 NSW RFS members.
An Australian Institute of Criminology report from 2005 noted that “despite the small number of incidents, the impact of firefighter arson can go well beyond the damage caused by the fire itself”.
“The community relies on and trusts its fire services, and the lighting of fires by members of those services can undermine public confidence, particularly given the accompanying media attention … The fire service could suffer loss of morale or have its effectiveness compromised by the disruption of allegations and investigations.”
The report said that when a firefighter turns arsonist, it will usually be motivated by “a desire for excitement or as a way of gaining attention and recognition”.
“A firefighter craving stimulation or activity may start a fire before reporting for duty. There are cases of firefighters who have started a fire, reported it and attended the fire with their unit in the hope of being seen as the hero who saves the community.”