Brendan Helmore, 45, of the Bendigo suburb of Golden Square, pleaded guilty in Shepparton County Court to intentionally causing a bushfire and possessing methamphetamines.
The court was told Helmore had smoked methamphetamines on the night he set up camp at Ulupna Island on Friday, March 29 last year.
Prosecutor David O’Doherty told the court Helmore went for a walk in the bush at noon the next day where he became “distressed and delusional” and believed he was lost.
“He believed he was at a point of dehydration and was about to die,” Mr O’Doherty said.
Helmore stripped off his shirt and jumper, before setting fires to “get the attention” of a plane flying overhead, Mr O’Doherty said.
“His aim was to get the attention of the aircraft,” he said.
The first fire was spotted by other campers at 12.30pm about 1km from their campsite, and they tried to put it out, before seeing other fires and calling for help.
The court was told Helmore lit between 33 and 37 fires in the national park.
The fires ranged in size from 0.006 hectares to 1.2 hectares.
It took four hours for firefighters from 33 CFA units as well as Forest Fire Victoria firefighters to bring the fires under control.
It took seven days before they were all declared as extinguished.
Mr O’Doherty said the fires shut off the roads to the campsite at Ulupna Island, putting all the campers there at risk.
When he was arrested, Helmore had two bags of a substance believed to be methamphetamines.
When interviewed by police, Helmore told them he “was dehydrated and thought he was going to die” so lit the fires to “make people find him”, Mr O’Doherty said.
He told police he lit at least three fires and “kept lighting fires because the first one didn’t work in bringing the plane down”, Mr O’Doherty said.
Helmore’s defence counsel said his client acknowledged the seriousness of the matter and the danger he put other campers in.
However, he said while there was a risk to others, no-one was injured.
The defence counsel also said there was “no malice” in Helmore’s offending.
“It occurred in circumstances where he was trying to attract a plane,” the defence counsel said.
The defence counsel also told the court it appeared that Helmore’s actions were caused by a mental condition that was caused by him not taking his medication for a time.
He also said while the methamphetamines used by Helmore the previous night may not have helped his mental condition, their use was not directly related to the offending.
“It is clear he was in a psychotic state at the time of the offending,” he said.
The defence counsel asked for Helmore to be assessed for a corrections order.
“The protection of the community … is best served by Mr Helmore’s treatment and continued support,” he said.
Helmore will be sentenced on June 5.
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