A man who sparked a search and rescue mission after he and a teenage boy became lost has been found guilty of negligently leaving a burning fire in the bush.
Scott William Gray, 46, beneficiary, of Ngongotaha, near Rotorua, was sentenced in the Rotorua District Court to 160 hours of
community work.
He had denied negligently leaving a burning fire in the bush in April last year.
Gray became lost between Lakes Tarawera and Rotomahana, sparking a search and rescue operation involving the Tenon Rescue Helicopter.
The helicopter found Gray and the teenager about 2am but could not rescue them because it was too dark.
Keeping in contact with Gray via mobile phone, the rescuers instructed him to stay where he was to be collected by a ground party when daylight arrived. But he decided in the morning to split from the teenager and try to find his own way out.
When daylight came, helicopter crewman Constable Colin Fraser found a large fire still glowing at the spot where Gray and the teenager had been.
He stamped it out and put sand over it.
Gray denied he left the fire burning, saying he would never have lit a fire at night because of the danger, yet said he did light one in the morning.
New Zealand Fire Service rural fire expert Paul Baker said the fire was lit in a highly combustible area.
- NZPA
