With over 5 million acres of Australia’s bush being ravaged by over 7,000 fires since July, it’s said to be the most challenging bush-fire season ever in Australia.
Six people of sadly died due to the fires, nearly 700 homes have been destroyed and fires have made the Koala ‘functionally extinct‘.
Now, news comes that three boys have been caught setting even more wildfires. Two of the boys reportedly started a grass fire Sunday morning in Wollongong (the third largest city in New South Wales), while the third was issued a caution after a fire was lit that afternoon in a Wollongong suburb.
While both fires were thankfully extinguished soon after being lit, all three boys have been “dealt with” under the Young Offenders Act and will attend a youth conference for deliberately lighting the fires, reports the Daily Mail.
People starting fires in the area has been an ongoing issue, one that Brian Pedersen, Lake Illawarra Police District Inspector is having a hard time to understand.
It’s quite distressing to see young people in particular continuing to ignore the message about how dangerous fires can be.
We are urging the whole community to be vigilant and report any suspicious behavior.
As of December 1, 2019, around 150 grass and bush fires were burning across New South Wales with only two-thirds of them contained.
Land, wildlife and lives are being destroyed by these fires. Sadly, strong winds have made it extremely hard to contain the fires.
