Discarded army flare sparks bushfire
Discarded army flare sparks bushfire
16 October 2008
published by www.news.com.au
Australia — A discarded army flare exploded in the hands of a woman, starting a bushfire on the NSW south coast, but the Defence Department does not know where the flare came from.
The trip flare was found by two women riding their horses through a state forest near Batemans Bay and one of the women, Brenda-Lee Tonna, picked it up thinking it was a child’s toy.
But within seconds the flare exploded, burning Ms Tonna’s hand.
“The origin of the flare is unknown,” a defence department spokesman said.
“Army does not have any records of recent training exercises being conducted at the Mogo State Forest.”
The subsequent bushfire burnt out 4000sq m of bush and took two hours to extinguish, Fairfax reported.
An Army investigator contacted NSW police and had offered assistance, the defence spokesman said.
