IT was a hot, dry and windy October morning last year and a total fire ban had just been declared when Harley Barrett and his friends drove to a remote area of bushland outside Kearsley in search of a stash of stolen copper wire.
Barrett, 30, pulled the copper from its hiding place and promptly set fire to the plastic coating to expose the raw wire that he planned to sell for scrap.
But burning the coating also sparked a number of small grass fires that flickered away in the tinderbox-like conditions.
Barrett walked around, stomping at the flames in a halfhearted bid to put the fires out before he jumped in the car and left, leaving a number of blazes still burning.
Barrett and his mates, including 20-year-old Jack Drayton, didn't bother telling anyone about that fire or another one they had lit on a mattress in bushland at Pelaw Main earlier that morning.
By mid-afternoon on October 3 last year, with the temperature at 35 degrees and winds gusting from the west, the fire was so massive that smoke hung over the south-east of Cessnock and residents were being told it was too late to evacuate and they had to shelter in place.
Barrett was on Thursday expected to face a hearing in Cessnock Local Court over the fires, but pleaded guilty to a charge of intentionally causing fire and being reckless to its spread.
Sat in the dock in prison greens and handcuffs, Barrett listened as Magistrate Ian Rodgers outlined how close the blaze came to devastating the community.
"The fire that Mr Barrett was directly involved in lighting clearly had potentially catastrophic circumstances," Mr Rodgers said. "There has to be a high level of general deterrence, it was of very significant community concern and there was actual danger posed to people at that time."
Barrett, who also pleaded guilty to a string of driving and domestic violence offences, was jailed for a maximum of 12 months, with a non-parole period of six months.
With time served since he had his bail revoked last month, he will be eligible for parole in March, 2025.
Drayton in August avoided a jail term and was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to his role in the blazes; lighting the first at Pelaw Main - which he was fortunate was spotted and extinguished before it could spread through bushland - and being an accessory to the more serious blaze at Kearsley.
Barrett was linked to the blazes because the first fire at Pelaw Main was lit at a spot off Leggetts Drive that is so notorious for illegal dumping that Cessnock City Council had placed high-definition cameras.
Police reviewed the footage and immediately identified Barrett, who was wearing the same distinct red Nike shoes when he was arrested.
And when police went to where Barrett was living at East Maitland they found copper wire in the driveway and the same ribbon-like material in a fire pit that they had seen at the Kearsley fire.
As well as the fires, Barrett had admitted to driving while disqualified - at least his ninth time being caught behind the wheel while disqualified from driving until 2041 - and a police pursuit - at least his fourth time he'd been convicted of fleeing from police - as well as stalking an ex by sending her 26 texts and voicemails and threatening to ram her car.
Magistrate Rodgers took into account his troubled background and a letter of remorse about sparking the fires when he ordered he serve at least six months in jail before being granted parole.
