In the past 24 hours several fresh fires were deliberately lit near Beechworth, north of Melbourne, according to reports. The authorities have said they are close to arresting one man suspected to lighting a large fire in Gippsland, which killed 21 people.
John Brumby, the Victorian Premier, said the 100 police officers in Taskforce Phoenix were “close to finalising investigations” into the south Gippsland fires that have devastated huge swathes of the state.
He said it was incredibly hard to believe that people would be still lighting fires given the appalling death toll. Local media said police had a description of a car used by those allegedly responsible for the overnight blazes in Beechworth.
“There seems little doubt that these were deliberately lit. I think words escape us all when it comes to describing that deliberate arson,” he said.
The death toll from the fires stands at 181 but is expected to climb higher as 80 people are still missing.
# 36 Glenn E. said, on February 12th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Might this be how the world of Mad Max got its start? The criminal gangs torched everything?
No insult intended, but does Australia fight its fires the same way the US fights forest fires? Or do they just watch it burn, and see if it will go out on its own? Or maybe they don’t have enough fire breaks, to keep fires isolated. Sorry, but I’m getting the impression that they do fire control and prevention, on the cheap. And then an accident on terrorists.
You are a fracking retard… We are the best in the world in fighting bushfires. We have been doing it for 200 years… We teach the rest of the world how to do it… The fact is these fires took a a lot of people completely by surprise… spot fire caused by falling embers were recorded falling 40 miles of the advancing fire front which was moving at 50mph in 115 degree heat extreme low humidity and 60mph+ gusting winds… The authorities responded as best they could with unprecedented conditions. The entire resources of the US military could not have stopped it…
That being said the relief efforts after the fire showed just how completely useless FEMA is…
Terrorists had NOTHING to do with this… If you think so then you really are an ignorant or paranoid delusional and should be medicated