Victoria Wildfires Now Considered a Crime Scene

The death toll in the Australian wildfires has risen to 130, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said:

"What do you say about anyone like that? There's no words to describe it, other than it's mass murder."

Anyone found guilty of lighting a wildfire that causes death faces 25 years in prison in Victoria.

Two have already been charged with arson, but neither in connection with any fire that caused loss of life.

A 31-year-old man accused of setting a fire that burnt through 495 acres in Peats Ridge on the New South Wales central coast was due in court on Monday, while a 15-year-old boy who allegedly set an explosive (firecracker / M80?) that started a small fire in the Blue Mountains near Sydney on Sunday was released on bail.

Meanwhile, Premier Colin Barnett said that Western Australia’s arson laws are likely to be toughened as a result of not just the current fires, but of other incidents of arson that have occurred recently.