A man was charged today with lighting one of the wildfires that killed more than 180 people in Australia.
He was taken 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 south-eastern Victoria state last Saturday, leaving 7,000 people homeless and razing entire towns.
The suspect was also charged with possessing child pornography.
The disaster’s official death toll is 181, but efforts to find and identify victims are continuing and officials expect the final tally to exceed 200.
More than 1,800 homes and 1,500 square miles of forests and farms were burned.
The suspect’s identity is 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.
Mr Moloney said: “He has been moved from that area and moved to the Melbourne metropolitan area for security reasons.”
The suspect was formally charged in the town’s magistrates’ court, but he did not appear. He was ordered to be held in custody and to undergo psychiatric evaluation.
Magistrate Clive Allsop banned publication of any details or photographs of the man that could identify him. Another court hearing is scheduled for Monday.
If found guilty, the man faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison for the deadly arson charge, and a maximum of 15 years on the second arson charge.
Police believe foul play was the cause of at least two of the deadly blazes, including the Churchill fire. Those suspicions disgusted the country and prompted prime minister Kevin Rudd to describe the fires as possible mass murder.
Firefighters are still struggling to contain about a dozen blazes. One of them flared up today and menaced the town of Healesville, coming within less than a mile and sending embers dropping like rain over houses.
The threat was downgraded after a few hours, but it served as a reminder that the disaster may not be over yet.
The catastrophe’s scale became clearer today.
Officials raised the tally of destroyed homes by 762 to 1,831, and the number of people left homeless or who fled their homes and have not returned was raised by 2,000 to 7,000.
AP