Many are now calling for the arsonists to face murder charges based on the 173 people already found dead. Surely more will be found as the fires are contained.
Australian towns devastated in the country's worst bushfires were declared crime scenes tonight as forensic investigators began combing the charred landscape for evidence of how the infernos started, and who may have ignited them.
Police indicated that they were closing in on arsonists believed to be responsible for lighting some of the 400 blazes that have killed at least 170 people, left 5,000 homeless and destroyed a 350,000 hectare area north of Melbourne in the past three days.
As firefighters continued to battle raging fires that threaten a further six towns north of Melbourne, the attorney general, Robert McClelland, told parliament that those responsible for lighting them could be charged with murder. Senior police confirmed they are preparing photofits of suspected firebugs.
"We'll soon be in a position to provide face images of people we believe responsible,"Detective Sergeant Brett Kahan told the Melbourne Age. Announcing a special taskforce to investigate the fires, the Victorian police commissioner, Christine Nixon, said she was "optimistic" that arrests would be made.
The prime minister, Kevin Rudd, echoed the anger of a nation yesterday when he described such actions as "mass murder". Fighting back tears, he said: "This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated."
Last night, a 60 mile (96km) wall of fire was continuing its advance on towns north of Melbourne. Authorities said the bushfires could take many days to control.
