“There was a guy in our yard with a shaggy beard; he was fat and really drunk, he had a flanno on,” the neighbour said when asked to give identifying details of the person they’d seen at the front of their Leamington Road home a short time earlier.

Police will allege that description closely matches Steven Buckland, who was arrested at the scene and refused bail in Wollongong court on Monday on four property damage offences.

Court documents reveal Buckland, from Wagga Wagga, had been staying with a relative in nearby Parkes Street when he allegedly left the house in the early hours of the morning and wandered into Leamington Road.

Police allege Buckland used a Bic lighter to set fire to the rear of a Ford Laser parked out the front of a house, before going into the front yard of the property, unraveling a hose and trying to put the fire out.

The home owners came outside and told him to leave.

Within the space of a few minutes, Buckland had allegedly set fire to two more vehicles – a Mazda hatchback and a boat – in the same street. Emergency services arrived and extinguished the fires.

A short time later Buckland allegedly forced his way inside a shipping container on a property in Parkes Street.

He allegedly used alcohol he found inside the container to start another fire at the rear of the home. He walked back home, police said, but returned to the scene when firefighters arrived.

Meantime, police spoke Buckland after receiving the distinct description from neighbours, however he denied his involvement.

He was taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station. Whilst in custody, Buckland pulled out a Bic lighter that had been wedged “under his genitals” and tried to set fire to the station walls.