Identity revealed for Albany woman accused of lighting fire that destroyed vacant Brunswick Road property

The identity of an Albany woman accused of setting a vacant Port Albany house alight earlier this month has been revealed in her second court appearance, with the first done via video link to Perth. Nicolette Rose Brown, 32, appeared via video link in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with criminal damage by fire. Ms Brown was scheduled for a bail application after her first court appearance in Perth Magistrates Court on February 8, a day after the alleged offending on February 7. But lawyer Georgia Herford told the court she had not yet been able to find a suitable address for Ms Brown, and so could not advance a bail application. Ms Herford said she would continue looking into the conditions available to Ms Brown and would aim to make a bail application at her next appearance. Magistrate Rosemarie Myers read the single charge to Ms Brown, confirming she was accused of wilfully setting fire to a house on Brunswick Road in Port Albany. The 32-year-old appeared from Albany Regional Prison, however Ms Herford said she was being transferred to Melaleuca Women’s Prison within the week. Ms Brown will next appear in Albany Magistrates Court on February 26, with a bail application scheduled. Albany detectives charged the Orana woman after investigations into the cause of the fire that gutted the Brunswick Road address just after 2.45am on Saturday, February 7. Emergency services rushed to the scene after a structure fire was reported at 2.46am, and the blaze took crews almost two hours to extinguish. Crews arrived at the scene to find the home fully engulfed by flames and a Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said it did not appear that anyone was inside the property at the time of the fire.