EXCLUSIVE: Investigators are close to charging more than a dozen suspected arsonists believed to have deliberately lit bushfires, with the crisis already claiming six lives and 700 homes this season
NSW’s bushfire crisis has already claimed six lives and more than 700 homes this season, and Mr Shepherd warned that arsonists could easily find themselves facing up to 25 years imprisonment for manslaughter.
The warning came as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that “huge” firefronts ravaging her state are uncontrollable. Authorities in NSW were pleading with residents to monitor conditions ahead of peak danger days on Thursday and Saturday, when daytime temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees in eastern NSW and ACT, and 45 degrees in western NSW.“At this stage we want to make sure everybody’s alert,” she said.
Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said heatwave conditions interacting with the ongoing firefront would create an “awful situation” later in the week. “One of the things that we found over this fire season is people are waiting until the last minute and then they’re suddenly ringing triple zero and saying ‘I need help’. Sometimes we can’t get firefighters to people in those circumstances.” he said.
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