Two boys, aged 11 and 14, have been labelled stupid and reckless after being charged with deliberately lighting fires in NSW.
The 11-year-old was charged on Monday over fires started near Newcastle on October 13 which destroyed sheds and burnt more than 5000 hectares of bushland in Heatherbrae, Williamtown, Campvale, Tomago and Medowie.
The 14-year-old was also charged with starting a fire on Sunday at Rutherford, where about 200 square metres of vegetation, more than 20 trees and a section of a tennis club's fencing were burned.
"It's one thing to be an adult criminal in setting fire," Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
"It's another thing, and it saddens me, that young people could actually not see the consequences of this sort of reckless behaviour and I'm pleased that, with the support of the community, police have actually even able to make an arrest and deal with someone in lighting these fires."
On Sunday, two girls aged 12 and 13 were charged with deliberately lighting a grass fire the previous day in Sydney's west.
Police minister Michael Gallacher said it was an act of stupidity to light fires in the current dangerous conditions.
"You're putting people's lives at risk potentially, you could well be even putting your own life at risk if you were to set fire to bushland and find yourself stuck in the middle of it," he said in Springwood.
"It's a serious criminal offence and it will be dealt with seriously."
