Police charge man for starting Australian wildfire

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.

Police said the suspect was charged with one count of arson causing death and intentionally lighting a wildfire near the town of Churchill that killed at least 21 people. It was one of hundreds of fires that raged through southeastern Victoria state on February 7, leaving 7,000 people homeless and razing entire towns.

The suspect also was charged with possessing child pornography.

The disaster’s official death toll is 181, but efforts to find and identify victims were continuing and officials expected the final tally to exceed 200. More than 1,800 homes and 3,900 square kilometres of forests and farms were burned.

The suspect’s identity was being kept secret for his own safety, Victoria Police assistant commissioner Dannye Moloney said. He was brought to the state capital of Melbourne from Morwell, 120km to the east and near the town of Churchill. “We have a very emotive environment out there,” Moloney said.

“If we left a person there it would only be a situation where the people may go to where they believe him to be held and I don’t think they need the trauma.”

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported from Morwell that the suspect was formally charged in the town’s magistrate’s court, but that he did not appear. He was ordered to be held in custody and to undergo psychiatric evaluation, the broadcaster said.

Another court hearing was scheduled for Monday.

If found guilty, the man faces a maximum jail term of 40 years.