A teenager facing a Victorian children's court charged with lighting a fire on a day of total fire ban was remanded in custody today.
The teenager is accused of starting a bushfire at Crusoe Reservoir on Friday and has been held in remand because of concerns he will re-offend if released.
The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in a Victorian Children's Court this afternoon charged with intentionally starting a bushfire and lighting a fire on a total fire ban day.
Police allege the boy had become "obsessed" with lighting a fire in bush land adjoining the reservoir and did so despite repeated warnings from his friends.
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said she was concerned by parallels the boy drew between his own offending and that of the two teenagers who started a fire on Black Saturday which took the life of a Bendigo man.
Ms Tregent said she would adjourn the boy's bail application until Friday to allow him to be assessed and start a treatment program before he was released back into the community.
Read the full court report in tomorrow's Bendigo Advertiser.
