Fire Expert On Victoria Blazes

More than one arsonist would have been responsible for several of the blazes which erupted in Victoria over the weekend, says fire expert and Australian National University research fellow Dr. Damon Muller. About half of all bush fires in Australia are deliberately lit by fire bugs and given that up to 400 fires hit Victoria over the weekend at varying locations across the state, the expert believes more than one arsonist was at work. HeraldSun.com also reports:

"Without putting a figure on it, it would be surprising if some of them were not deliberately lit, just by virtue of the significant number,'' Dr Muller said.  "And by virtue of the diversity of locations there is probably a number of perpetrators.''  Federal Attorney General Robert McClelland said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's description of arsonists as "mass murderers'' in the circumstances was warranted and any offenders would be pursued with relevant murder charges.