Mentally unstable man sets fire to mattress

Fire officers of the Belmont Police Station were forced to jump over walls and walk through the yards of residents of Davis Street, Belmont, to gain access to a house on fire on Saturday. It took fire officers 25 minutes to extingush the fire and prevent it from spreading to two other homes. Reports revealed that around 12.20 am, fire officers received a report that a 60-year-old mentally unstable man, an outpatient of the St Ann’s Hospital set fire to a mattress at his home.

The fire spread rapidly and the house where he was living in for the past three years started to burn. The occupants of two homes close to the burning house looked on helplessly as the fire spread. When the fire was extinguished, fire officers were praised for their efforts. The outpatient was taken into police custody and later admitted to the St Ann’s Hospital.