Drug set-up found at house blaze
A MAN has been charged with setting fire to his own house, which was also allegedly used to run a hydroponic marijuana-growing set-up.
Police and firefighters were called to a house on Gray St, Ipswich, on Tuesday night, where fire was believed to have started in the kitchen and the bathroom just before 8.30pm.
Ipswich Detective Senior Sergeant Gary Dixon said the fire was treated as suspicious from early in the subsequent investigation.
Detectives and scenes-of-crime officers were called in after it emerged that there were two points of ignition for the fire, and that one of the smoke alarms in the house appeared to have been ripped off the ceiling.
"Police kept the house under guard overnight in the hope of getting scenes-of-crime officers in there yesterday morning," Snr Sgt Dixon said.
Firefighters were able to control the flames before they consumed much of the home, although police were waiting on a safety clearance from Energex before going inside to conduct further investigations, as there were concerns over some electrical wiring.
Police said the remnants of a hydroponic plant-growing set-up were found in the house.
By late yesterday afternoon, police had charged one of the two residents of the house with one count of arson and one count of producing dangerous drugs.
Police said the 20-year-old accused was one of two people who lived at the house.
He is due to face Ipswich Magistrates Court this morning.
