There were six fires in the area close to an off-grid community at Mangana during 2019, a witness told a Supreme Court jury on Thursday.
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Jason Cook, of Mangana, said he lived on the property from 2018 and was a resident when fires occurred in February, November and December 2019.
Robert Peter Matthewson, 36, also of Mangana, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of unlawfully set fire to vegetation on December 8, 18 and 30 in 2019.
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Mr Cook gave evidence that only three people were living on the 24ha property at the time of the December fires - himself, his son Jesse and Mr Matthewson.
He said Mr Matthewson was the only charperson on the property when the December fires started.
Answering questions from Crown prosecutor John Ransom, Mr Cook said the December 30 fire, a day of a total fire ban, was "very scary".
He said that he and his son Jesse were driving to Avoca about 2.30pm when they saw a smoke plume that looked to be coming from close to their home.
Mr Cook said he drove back to the property, known as Bluestonia, to collect a dog, let chooks out and pick up Mr Matthewson.
He said Mr Matthewson was waiting to be picked up with a box of personal effects and two dogs.
He said he did not notice Mr Matthewson's state of sobriety.
"I didn't take much notice I was trying to get out of there," he said.
"I told them not to touch the glass on the car because it had become extremely hot.
"The visibility was extremely poor and there was smoke, sparks and flames."
He said he and his son were not allowed to return home for 15 days.
He lost a boat, tool shed and tools, 35 metres of wood, a car was damaged and a vegetable garden.
Jesse Cook told the jury that he rang Mr Mathewson on December 30 to ask whether the fire was at Bluestonia.
"How did he sound?" Mr Ransom asked.
"A bit panicked," Mr Cook said.
Jason Cook said that on December 18 when he and his father returned to the property Mr Matthewson was extremely intoxicated.
The jury heard that a man known as "Turtle" lived on the property during 2019.
Jason Cook said he saw a row when Mr Matthewson asked the man to leave the property because of rubbish.
He said that the man was very irate when he left and tried to run over Mr Matthewson.
He said that he would burn the rubbish.
Mr Cook said that it was said in a threatening way but he did not ever see the man again.
The trial continues.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
