DFES respond to 14 vehicle fires in Geraldton in 2024, as police charge 13yo with stealing torched car

Police have charged two juvenile boys after a vehicle was stolen and torched at an Utakarra park on Monday night. It is the 14th vehicle fire Department of Fire and Emergency services have responded to in the City of Greater Geraldton this year, according to DFES. Of those, 11 were deemed likely to be deliberate or suspiciously lit. DFES were contacted with reports of a car on fire at Clematis Park in Utakarra about 11pm on Monday, May 27. Three crews from Geraldton Fire and Rescue Services attended and extinguished the blaze by 11.30pm. Crews determined the cause of the blaze as deliberate and handed the investigation over to Geraldton police. A photo was posted to Facebook about 6am on Tuesday by frustrated neighbours. Crews are pictured fighting the blaze near a basketball court as flames engulf a car. “Is anyone missing a hatchback like car? One was set (alight) in Utakarra area,” the poster, Gracie Jas wrote. Officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Chris Martin said the vehicle was stolen from a house on Tuart Street, Rangeway, earlier on Monday night. Police charged a 13-year-old boy, who appeared in Geraldton Children’s Court on Thursday charged with stealing a motor vehicle and failing to wear a seatbelt. The boy did not enter pleas. The court heard he was a passenger with a co-accused as the vehicle drove recklessly around Geraldton. Mobile phone footage allegedly captures the identity of the accused. He was bailed and is next due to appear in court on Tuesday.