A 36-year-old man accused of setting fire to bushland had a strained relationship with the owner of the land where the fires started, a Supreme Court jury in Launceston heard.
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Crown prosecutor John Ransom said Robert Peter Mathewson had a vendor finance agreement with Zachary John Mead in 2019 when the fires between Mangana and Fingal occurred.
Mr Matthewson, of Mangana, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of unlawfully set fire to vegetation on December 8, December 18 and December 30, 2019.
Defence counsel Fran McCracken said there was no issue that the relationship had soured and was poor at the time of the fires.
"The main issues are whether the fires were deliberately lit and who was responsible," she said.
In his opening address, Mr Ransom told the jury that the December 30 fire occurred on a day of total fire ban when winds were predicted to be 50km/h and the temperature to be 39 degrees.
The fire was not controlled until January 18 last year.
He told the jury that evidence would be led that Mr Matthewson did not drive and was reliant on people living on the property for transport.
He said that on the day of the fires two witnesses would give evidence that Mr Matthewson was the only person on the property.
A witness would give evidence that when they spoke to Mr Mathewson on one of the days of the fire he sounded panicked and was highly intoxicated.
Mr Ransom said that in a telephone call in October 2019 Mr Matthewson told Mr Mead that he could not guarantee his safety if he came to the property.
The relationship soured after Mr Mead noticed people, other than Mr Matthewson, were living on the property in contravention of the vendor finance agreement.
The jury heard that there were a number of fires in November 2019 which seemed to occur for unknown reasons.
Mr Ransom said that Mr Mead's property had been renamed Bluestonia and had become home to nearly 30 people who were living in tents. However, by the time of the fires Mr Mathewson and the two witnesses were the only people living on the property.
Mr Ransom said the trial would include a number of police officers including Constable Brian Hamilton who arrested Mr Matthewson at the Hobart Airport in February this year.
He said the Crown contention was that Mr Matthewson was in potential breach of bail conditions and his attempted flight was due to a consciousness of guilt.
Mr Ransom said the evidence of expert witness Anthony Goss would be that all three fires were deliberately lit.
The trial continues on Tuesday afternoon.