Firefighters extinguish a bushfire in Sydney's northern suburbs. Photo / Reuters
Firefighters extinguish a bushfire in Sydney's northern suburbs. Photo / Reuters
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SYDNEY - Two boys arrested for starting a bushfire in the Blue Mountains had been playing with a cigarette lighter and did not throw a petrol bomb, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) says.
The 11-year-old boys were actually playing with a lighter when they set fire to bushlandnear Wentworth Falls, Assistant RFS Commissioner Denis Clifford says.
"What it appears now is that they've been playing with a cigarette lighter, or trying to light cigarettes. As a result of that they've started a fire, the fire's got out of control, as you'd expect and ... it took about an hour to bring the fire under control," Mr Clifford told ABC radio.
"Initial reports that a molotov cocktail's been used may have been as a result of some aerosol cans exploding," he said.
The boys were quite shocked and remorseful when they saw the result of their actions, Mr Clifford said.
They were in a gully off Falls Road at Wentworth Falls at 3.20pm yesterday when a woman reported seeing one of them throw an object which exploded.
They fled the scene but were arrested a short time later at Wentworth Falls railway station.
The boys have been released into the custody of their parents and will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.
No-one was injured in the fire and no property was damaged.
