Unbelievable …
The ABC reports a Cop charged over Perth bushfire
A 56-year-old Perth police officer has been charged by summons over a bushfire that destroyed 72 properties.
Robert James Stevens from Roleystone has been charged with carrying out an activity in the open air that causes or is likely to cause a fire.
It is understood sparks from an angle grinder the sergeant was using during a total fire ban started the blaze.
Stevens is on leave and was off duty at the time. It is also understood his wife is ill.
He is due to appear in court next month. If convicted he faces a maximum penalty of $25,000 and a year in jail.
How can anyone be this stupid. If he had ever used an angle grinder before this incident, he would have to be aware of the sparks it generates. After seeing the sparks, did he even bother to wet down the area where he was working and have a hose ready? The winds were really gusty and the humidity extremely low, didn’t he even consider the danger? He is/was a police officer, did he think that the law didn’t apply to him?
6 comments
We Santa Barbarians know all to well about power tools + uber dry conditions + wind + stupidity = disaster.
http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/california-wildfires-sparked-power-tool-used-clear-brush
That was the result of hitting rocks with a brush cutter blade, Jill, not grinding metal that generates a shower of sparks. An angle grinder is like a giant cigarette lighter without the wick. I doubt the guy [you know it was a guy] with the brush cutter even saw the sparks, but you can’t miss them with an angle grinder.
Now, I wouldn’t have used the brush cutter because of the heat that builds up, and the creosote bushes in the back country. Those suckers will burst into flame if you look at them wrong.
Uber stupid! When i saw this on the local news, I was in complete disbelief! I had thought that the utter stupidity of humans had ceased to amaze me… I guess not. *sigh*
Got my huge almost destroy Santa Barbara fires confused. It was the Zaca fire that was caused by a grinding machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaca_Fire
Kryten42 – How are you doing? So glad to see you post….Hope all is well and dry.
A foolish policeman from Perth
Played his folly for all that it’s werth:
He couldn’t be blinder
To sparks from his grinder…
Now him all his neighbors do certh.
– SB the YSS
(Good to see you back online, Kryten.)
Hi Steve, and thanks. 🙂
I posted an update on my situation in Bryan’s post:
Not Their Year
Almost a nice little quatrain BTW, but an extra line is justifiable in this case I think! 😀 😉