Devastating Aussie Fires May Be Arson

Australia Arson Death toll over 130 in a series of fires across Southern Australia. Investigators say some fires may have been intentionally set.

by APTN

Published: Mon, February 09, 2009 - 7:17 am CST Last Updated: Mon, February 09, 2009 - 7:38 am CST

Suspicions that some of the worst wildfires ever to strike Australia were deliberately lit has led police to declare crime scenes in incinerated towns, while investigators moving into the charred landscape discovered more bodies.

The death toll stood at 131 on Monday.

The scale of Saturday's carnage, still growing daily, has shocked to the core a nation that endures deadly firestorms every few years.

There were no quick answers, but officials said panic and the freight-train speed of the firefront probably accounted for the unusually high toll.

Officials believe arson may be behind at least some of the more than 400 fires that tore a destructive path across a vast swath of southern Victoria state over the weekend.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, visibly upset during a television interview, reflected the country's disgust at the idea that arsonists had set some of the 400 fires that devastated Victoria state, or helped them jump containment lines.

More than one dozen fires still burned uncontrolled across the state, though conditions were much cooler than Saturday's record high heat and winds of up to 60 mph (100 kph).

Police have sealed off at least two towns, Marysville and Kinglake, where dozens of deaths occurred, setting up roadside checkpoints and controlling access to the area.

Victoria Police Commissioner said specialist fire investigators were on the ground at one fire site, in Churchill, east of Melbourne, and would go to others.

Anyone found guilty of lighting a wildfire that causes death faces 25 years in prison in Victoria.

However, a murder conviction could result in a life sentence, said federal Attorney General.

At least 750 homes were destroyed.

Officials said both the tolls of human life and property would almost certainly rise.

Stunned survivors were gathering at dozens of emergency relief centres at town halls and schools.

At the town of Whittlesea, seven miles (12 kilometres) west of the Kinglake region, survivors sat in the dirt outside, accepting cups of coffee and sandwiches being handed out by volunteers.

Others hugged each other with tears in their eyes.

Australian Red Cross officials were compiling lists of survivors to make it easy for family members to track them down.

The Red Cross said more than four-thousand people had been listed across the state.

Victoria state Premier John Brumby on Monday announced a royal commission would be held.

A royal commission is among the highest-level investigations that can be called under Australian law.

Usually, a former judge is appointed to take extensive evidence and make formal findings that can lead to charges or changes in the law.

While weather conditions have eased since Saturday's inferno, more than one dozen fires still burned in Victoria and gusting winds threatened to fan them toward towns not previously hit.

Forecasters said temperatures may rise again later in the week.

Blazes have been burning for weeks in the southeastern state of Victoria but turned deadly on Saturday when searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across the region.

A long-running drought in the south, the worst in a century, had left forests extra dry and Saturday's fire conditions were said to be the worst ever in Australia.

From the air, the landscape was blackened as far as the eye could see.

Entire forests were reduced to leafless, charred trunks, farmland to ashes.

The Victoria Country Fire Service said some 850 square miles (2,200 kilometres) were burned out.

Only five houses were left standing out of about 40 in one neighbourhood of the hard-hit Kinglake district that an Associated Press news crew flew over.

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