The Mulligan Highway was closed for several hours between the Annan River bridge and Archer Point turnoff last week as firefighters battled a large bushfire one land manager in the area says they believe may be the work of an arsonist who has lit several fires over the past few weeks. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
“It’s got to stop before someone is seriously injured or killed.”
That is the sentiment of a frustrated south-eastern Cape York land manager who has taken the extraordinary step of offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the identification and conviction of the arsonist they say is responsible for maliciously lighting several bushfires along the Mulligan Highway over the past fortnight.
The land manager, who asked not to be named, looks after some of South Endeavour Trust’s six nature reserves in the region and said they were at their wit’s end after fighting a number of fires on their properties, as well as those of neighbouring landholders, since late September.
They added putting up the reward was a last-ditch effort to catch the suspected arsonist before there was any loss of life or significant structural damage.
“We’re basically sitting on a powder keg, just look how dry it is,” they told Cape York Weekly.
“This one, these ones, over the last week or so, as they’ve panned out, haven’t been too bad from that point of view, but that one over at Lakeland, that was scary dangerous.
“The first two fires we had lit here, one of our employees drove past and saw that there were two separate ones, the one on this side of the [Little Annan River] … and then on the eastern side of the highway – that one didn’t go very far, thankfully, because it was contained by a creek.
“But then it was two nights after that, they lit another one on the other side down near the bridge.”
Bushfires have caused chaos for landholders, firefighters and volunteers between Lakeland and Cooktown in recent weeks as strong winds and dry conditions fuelled blazes to burn out tens of thousands of acres of land.
The land manager said the actions of the person or people responsible for igniting the fires was having a major environmental and economic impact on the community, adding the $10,000 reward was being offered after consulting with stakeholders, including the Queensland Police Service and Rural Fire Service Queensland.
“We’ve done the whole thing in consultation,” they said.
“If we get any information, it will be given straight to the police, because arson is a crime.
“A lot of the community is really supportive [of the reward] and are saying stringing the bastard up would be fitting for the trouble they are causing and danger they are putting the community in.
“It’s got to stop before someone is seriously injured or killed.”
A fire investigator looks for ignition points in the bushfire that closed the Mulligan Highway between the Annan River bridge and Archer Point turnoff last week. Photo: Facebook (Denis Kelly).
A bushfire between the Annan River Bridge and Archer Point turnoff closed the Mulligan Highway for several hours last week and Cape York Weekly understands a fire investigator identified several ignition points in the aftermath, suggesting the blaze may have been deliberately lit.
A QPS spokesperson said there had only been one official report of a suspicious fire in the region over the past few weeks.
“Police received reports of a fire at Gampe Drive, Cooktown, on 4 October,” the spokesperson said.
“Initial information indicates the fire was deliberately lit at a property on the northern side of the road; emergency services extinguished the fire, and investigations are ongoing.
“The Queensland Police Service continues to work with emergency services and partner agencies to investigate suspicious fires and support the community through the bushfire season.”
Anyone with information about the spate of fires is asked to call 4060 3114 or Policelink on 13 14 44.
One south-eastern Cape York land manager is offering $10,000 for information leading to the identification and conviction of the individual of individuals they say has been responsible for igniting fires along the Mulligan Highway recently. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
