Accused South Coast arsonist Darren Colquhoun was using garden hose when firies arrived, judge told

A Wollongong judge is considering the case of Darren Mark Colquhoun, who summoned firefighters to his Yalwall Road, Barrangella property with a 5.27am triple-0 call on January 5, 2020.

Crews arrived at 5.43am to see Colquhoun training a garden hose on the well-alight house, with little effect, Shoalhaven Fire Station commander Ian Walters told Wollongong District Court on Wednesday.

"He [said] he didn't have any insurance and 'could we try and save the kitchen?'," Mr Walters said.

"The kitchen was where he was pointing his hose at.

"He told me ... that he was pretty unlucky. He'd had two previous fires on his property. One was a caravan and adjoining solid annexe and another one was a demountable."

Mr Walters said Colquhoun later complained of chest pains and was convinced to take some medical oxygen before paramedics arrived to tend to him.

Colquhuon has pleaded not guilty to a range of charges including six counts of dishonestly gaining financial advantage by deception and one count of damaging property by fire for financial gain.

Police allege he let the fire burn for a significant amount of time before alerting emergency services.

Colquhuon was allegedly paid $376,000 by his insurer, the NRMA, $60,000 from the Australian Red Cross, $75,000 from the Rural Assistance Authority, $11,500 from the Salvation Army, $60,000 from Service NSW and $3000 from St Vincent de Paul.

In other evidence on Wednesday, farm worker Bruce Magin described how a plateau overshadowing Colquhoun's property become shrouded in smoke from the Carowan bushfire on December 31, 2019 - five days before the blaze that claimed Colquhoun's home.

Tendered into evidence was photo taken from the property that day, showing the plateau to the south.

"You could not see the fire. The smoke was that thick, it turned daylight to nighttime," Mr Magin, an RFS divisional commander with 24 years' firefighting experience, said.

"That's not actually fire that's up into the air; that's carbon burning - that's smoke burning. It's what we call, 'dancing angels'.

"The fire was still a few kilometres away. I didn't see flames, didn't see ember or anything dropping down. There were bits of black leaf coming down; they weren't hot. That tells me the fire was still a little way away - they weren't glowing."

He said he drove up to the plateau "about a week" after the December 31 fire to find mostly "barren ground", with some matter still smouldering.

"I did see what we call 'stags'," he said, explaining these were dead trees that are still burning.

"They can throw embers for hours and hours and miles and miles."

Asked whether the wind patterns on top of the ridge were different to those below, he replied, "definitely".

"Wind can be affected by topography. And fires can make their own wind."

The court heard Mr Magin was paid $150 a day to work on Colquhuon's farm.

He said he was unsure whether a water line he was paid to repair on the property had been damaged during the fire, or beforehand.

He gave evidence that fences Colquhoun paid him to repair had plastic components that had visibly melted.

He said his labour rightly accounted for a $2650 fencing invoice Colquhoun later paid him, saying there was "a hell of a lot" of repairs.

"So, 17 days work?" he was asked, in re-examination.

"Yes," he said.

In other evidence, attending Nowra police officer Luke McDonald said Colquhoun told him he had been putting out spot fires across the road in the hours before his home was razed.

"He'd been fighting it most of the night, he said" Mr McDonald said.

He said Colquhoun appeared at times "down" and "extremely upset".

"I asked him if he was insured. He said no ... He said that he was having a hard time financially because of the drought."

The judge-alone trial continues on Thursday before Judge Christopher O'Brien.