Cabarita fires may have been deliberately lit

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Photo credit: Fat Albert from a previous fire in 2016.

UPDATE 8.30am

The Rural Fire Service has worked into the night to bring the bush fire at Cabarita under control which police believe may have been deliberately lit.

Police reported that there have been several scrub fires on the Far North Coast recently including a number of scrub fires in the Clothiers Creek Road area at Cabarita and at Salt Village yesterday (October 29).

It follows a number of other small fires in the region in recent weeks Banora Point Fires.

The fire spread over 82 hectares of bushland. Locals who reported the fire to emergency services said they believed the bushfire was started by a cigarette butt thrown out of a window.

Early photo of the bushfire. Photo credit Duncan Marchant
Early photo of the bushfire. Photo credit Duncan Marchant

Police and the Rural Fire Service closed Clothiers Creek Road after one of the fires escalated to a bushfire which threatened a number of homes.

Police are now appealing for public assistance in relation to the fires which they believe could be suspicious.

In particular, detectives from Tweed/Byron Local Area Command would like to speak to a man described as being aged in his 60s who was seen sitting in a silver two-door Peugeot hatchback parked on Clothiers Creek Road about 3.15pm yesterday.

This man or any other person who can assist investigators is asked to contact Tweed Heads Police Station or Crime Stoppers.

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/ Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our social media pages.

9.30pm

A LARGE bushfire is burning out of control at Clothiers Creek Road, Bogangar.

The Rural Fire Service is attending, however, it is reported the fire is too large to control and the focus is to protect nearby homes.

The fire covers a distance of 22 hectares of bushland south of Clothiers Creek Road just after Tanglewood.

Location of the bushfire
Location of the bushfire

Clothiers Creek Road remains closed to traffic at the time of report (9.10pm) and it’s likely the fire will burn through the night.

From Oleander facing Cabarita Road Photo credit: Tamy Blanchfield.
From Oleander Avenue facing Cabarita Road. Photo credit: Tamy Blanchfield.

Earlier in the day fire crews attended another small fire at Tweed Coast Road, Casuarina just north of the Casuarina Village Shopping Centre.

More details to come.