Police charge man after house fire in South Coast

A man has been charged following a house fire on the state’s South Coast yesterday.

About 1.20am (Sunday 17 July 2022), emergency services attended a home on Ferntree Lane, Wallagoot, following reports of a fire.

The occupant, a woman aged 54, had been awoken by a man outside her home, before he allegedly threw her to the ground as the house caught alight.

The man allegedly fled the scene.

Fire and Rescue NSW attended and extinguished the blaze.

The woman was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics for minor burns to her face and hands.

Officers attached to South Coast Police District attended and arrested a 69-year-old man nearby.

He was taken to Bega Police Station before he was conveyed to South East Regional Hospital (Bega) under police guard, with burns to his forehead. He has since been transferred to Canberra Hospital for further treatment.

The Wallagoot man has been charged with destroy or damage property, destroy/damage property with intent to endanger life – serious indictable offence, and common assault.

He appeared in Batemans Bay Local Court today (Monday 18 July 2022), where he was formally refused bail to appear in Bega Local Court on Tuesday 13 September 2022.

/Public Release. View in full here.