Firebug was on drugs when he started seven blazes in bushfire season

The only reason a meth user could give for why he started seven fires near southern Canberra homes during last year’s bushfire season was his drug abuse.

At around 4 am on 26 October 2023, Matthew Scott Hagan was with a second man in Isabella Plains when he sprayed a substance out of a plastic water gun onto grass and then lit it on fire. The fire lasted for about 45 seconds.

Shortly afterwards, the pair were seen nearby when a fire was spotted in a stormwater drain. They appeared to be creeping towards a home’s back fence. Firefighters arrived and put out the fire, which was about one metre by one metre in size.

Next, emergency services were called when a couch was engulfed in fire outside someone’s home, spouting flames that reached four metres high. The home’s resident unsuccessfully tried to put out the blaze and needed the help of firefighters.

The largest fire was on an embankment in Isabella Plains. Firefighters were called at around 4:30 am and found the fire had reached up to 20 by 30 metres in size and was spreading quickly. Fortunately, they were able to extinguish it.

Firefighters also had to put out fires in a front garden, next to a garage and in a garden bed.

Police found Hagan on a nearby street at about 5:30 am, smelling of an accelerant or petrol and appearing to have burn marks on his jumper.

When asked why he smelled of petrol, he claimed he’d been working on a motorbike.

On Monday (19 August), Acting Justice Rebecca Christensen SC told the ACT Supreme Court that Hagan’s behaviour had the “potential for gravely serious consequences” and he had demonstrated “a complete disregard for the actual and potential consequences of his actions”.

She said he had exposed community members, their properties and firefighters to risk.

She also said the now-35-year-old hadn’t given any explanation for his behaviour outside of substance abuse.

Hagan, a meth user, has worked as a chef, painter and furniture removalist. His criminal history includes convictions for drugs, violence and burglary.

Acting Justice Christensen said she was satisfied Hagan, who has been in custody since October 2023, was dependent on a drug and that contributed to his offending.

She sentenced him to a total of two years in jail, with the remainder of his jail sentence suspended from Monday for him to complete a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order in the community. He was also handed a total of $4500 in fines.

As part of his treatment order, he must live in Kambah, not carry fire-lighting equipment, reside under a curfew and not use drugs.

He pleaded guilty and was convicted of single counts of causing a bushfire and damaging property, as well as to four counts of lighting an unauthorised fire and six counts of leaving a fire without extinguishing it.

The second man involved in the incident has since died in unrelated circumstances.