The man was fined $5000 for lighting a campfire in Victoria’s north-east, during a statewide total fire ban on December 26, 2024.
The 41-year-old was sentenced in the Mansfield Magistrates’ Court in April on a charge of lighting a fire on a day of total fire ban.
He failed to appear for the scheduled court hearing in relation to the offence and was sentenced in his absence.
Conservation Regulator and Forest Fire Management Victoria officers discovered the campfire at the Blue Gum Flat campground while on patrol in the Delatite Arm Reserve during dangerous fire conditions.
The man was at the campground at the time and acknowledged that he knew campfires were prohibited that day due to a total fire ban.
After admitting to lighting the campfire, the man was verbally abusive towards the investigating authorised officer, the Conservation Regulator said.
Under total fire ban conditions, lighting fires in the open air is illegal as it puts lives, property and the environment at serious risk.
The Conservation Regulator focuses on campfire safety across the summer months, through targeted compliance patrols, education and close collaboration with land and fire agencies to reduce bushfire risk and protect Victorian communities and landscapes.
Where serious or deliberate breaches of campfire safety rules are identified, the Conservation Regulator will pursue appropriate enforcement action, including prosecuting offenders.
Conservation Regulator regulatory operations Hume manager Greg Chant said total fire bans were declared to protect the community and the environment, and ignoring them put community and firefighters’ lives and landscapes at extreme risk.
“An escaped campfire on a day of total fire ban can have devastating consequences, and that’s why campers must comply with the restrictions,” he said.
“This court outcome sends a clear message that breaches of total fire bans will be taken seriously, with offenders prosecuted and held to account.”
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