AUTHORITIES charged a man yesterday with lighting one of the wildfires that killed more than 180 people in Australia, and whisked him into protective custody to guard him from public fury.

A man charged with deliberately starting one of the wildfires that killed a total of more than 180 people in Australia had to be taken into protective custody to guard him from angry victims today.

Survivors from Australian towns razed by the worst wildfires in the country’s history returned to their homes for the first time today to be confronted by utter devastation.

With rescue teams finding new corpses by the hour, the Australian wildfire death toll was expected to soar past 200 today.