Victoria Ablaze

Report on NPR this a.m. that police have arrested one man for allegedly setting one of the fires which killed some 20+ people. Any further details on that?

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@Merry Andrew,

Merry Andrew here are the details: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25048866-421,00.html

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@Merry Andrew,

Arson accused moved to Melbourne amid security concerns

A court has heard that the man charged over the Churchill-Jeeralang bushfire in eastern Victoria may need to be protected from other prisoners.

Assistant Police Commissioner Dannye Maloney says the man has been moved to Melbourne due to security concerns.

"People are pointing fingers, people are jumping to conclusions, rumours and innuendos are ebbing... we do not need that," he said.

"Let Victoria Police do its role, we identified this person, we are prosecuting this person on behalf of the community."

The man, who can not be named, has been charged with one count of arson causing death, one count of deliberately lighting a bushfire, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Twenty-one people are confirmed to have died in the bushfire on Saturday.

The man did not attend the brief hearing at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court this afternoon.

Magistrate Clive Allsop ordered that he undergo a psychiatric assessment.

There was no application for bail, and the man will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/13/2491328.htm

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@dlowan,

Arson and kiddie porn? I expect he'd be very popular in prison...

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

Assistant Police Commissioner Dannye Maloney says...

"People are pointing fingers, people are jumping to conclusions, rumours and innuendos are ebbing...

Is this guy really Asst Police Commissioner? Sounds more like a Mardi Gras choreographer! Ebbing innuendos, no less.

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@Eorl,

Odd words...but the fella is probably desperate because he sees any chance of a trial ebbing away, since any lawyer could just about challenge any juror if the media frenzy keeps up.

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@dlowan,

Yes, there has been a tendency lately for judges to think jurors can't think for themselves. We recently had a paedophilia trial fall over because the defendant was famous for paedophilia. Was overturned though. And they put Martin Bryant away.

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@Dutchy,

Yes, that's good, Dutchy. I'll also be donating to the WildLife fund.

Incidentally, a fundraiser at the school I'm working at, raised something close to $5 1/2 thousand yesterday. I imagine this sort of fundraising for the fire victims has been going on all over the place.

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@Eorl,

Yeah, I know, Eorl.

It's just that I can't imagine a more excruciating & bewildering way for animals to die. I include farm & domestic animals. I can barely stand to look at the media reports.

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@hingehead,

Ah, Norman, my idol! Very Happy

Thanks for reminding me of this great moment in Oz cuture, hinge. Made me smile, remembering.

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@Merry Andrew,

Yes, I've just read the report in my morning paper. They've removed him to Melbourne (capital city of Victoria) for his safety. His namehas not been released.

I also read a report that the fire in Marysville (which wiped out the town) appears to have been deliberately lit. I'm in awe of these "forensic" folk. Incredible what they find & how they find it, combing through the rubble.

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@patiodog,

Quote:

Arson and kiddie porn? I expect he'd be very popular in prison...

Yes, & as was pointed out in the paper, a number of the prisoners in Victoriam jails would be related to or know bushfire victims. They would have to keep him in isolation, I'd assume.

Personally, I couldn't see the point of releasing the "porn" information. Not related to the fires in any way .... & well, just depicts this fellow (who hasn't been tried yet) as even more deranged & more worthy of loathing than an "ordinary" (if there is such a thing!) arsonist.

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@msolga,

I too fear for his chances of a fair trial - I guess in times of tragedy it helps to find someone to blame and lash out. I hope the slowness of the justice systems gives everyone time to calm down.

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@hingehead,

Yep. Make no mistake, if he is found guilty of arson, he should face the full force of the law & receive his proper punishment. But, we won't know for certain before his trial. In the meantime, there are a lot of (very understandably) very distraught people out there. And fanning hysteria in the media doesn't help matters at all. (I note that a couple of other arson "suspects" have now been allowed to go free, after questioning.)

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@msolga,

70 US and Canadian fire-fighters flew in today! Thanks guys.

And Indonesian folk who helped with identification and forensics after the Bali bombings.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/15/2491933.htm

Quote:

Overseas firefighters and victim identification experts have arrived in Melbourne to help with the bushfire effort.

Around 70 firefighters from the United States and Canada are on hand.

Firefighter Doug Alexander from the US National Parks Service says they are planning to stay for about a month.

"I think that they are similar to what we have in southern California and what we've seen up in Montana," he said.

"There's a lot of similarities ... you've had drought for 15 years now and you have high fire intensity and rapid rates of spread."

Meanwhile eight Indonesian Disaster Victim Identification experts will begin work tomorrow at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.

More than 100 volunteer New South Wales firefighters have been applauded by members of the public at Sydney airport after arriving home from battling the fires.

Another 460 NSW firefighters remain in Victoria on the various fire fronts.

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I'm feeling kinda cranky & frustrated about hearing (on the news, just now) that an arsonist (from 2 years back) has received a mere 3 year sentence (which she plans to appeal, apparently) in a Victorian court today.
This person may not have caused the devastation of our most recent Victorian fires by deliberately lighting 2 fires, in bushland on "high danger" days, 2 years ago, but ............

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@msolga,

Quote:

Rosemary Ann Harris was found guilty in the La Trobe Valley Magistrate's court of arson, lighting a fire on a total fire ban day and reckless conduct placing people at risk for two fires lit in Driffield and Tyers on December 14 2006.
[...]
Victoria Police prosecutor Tim Bridson also said it would be "unfair" to use the recent fire tragedy - in which at least 181 people have died across the state - in relation to Harris' case. ... ... ...

From a different paper than above (here: Herald Sun):

Quote:

Morwell CFA firefighter Pat Quinn was among six firefighters gathered at the court for the sentence.
Mr Quinn caught Harris lighting the Driffield blaze while a number of her children waited in the car.

He was working in the area with a friend when they noticed smoke nearby.

They doused the flames with their fire jackets.

"She should have got five years," Mr Quinn said outside court.

"It wasn't a soft sentence, but she should have got more. That fire put my life at risk. It's not right."

Boolarra CFA firefighter Pat Thatcher said the sentence, for an offence which carries a maximum of five years' jail, was too soft.

"A message needs to be sent, she should have got much more," Ms Thatcher said.
[...]
Both fires were small, and were doused by witnesses, including Mr Quinn, within moments of igniting. ... ... ...

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@Walter Hinteler,

Death toll has just been amended by the Victorian Police, it now stands officially at 189. All open areas have been searched, now they must start the task of examining the burnt homes.

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@Dutchy,

For Marysville, they've reported 36 ... . I fear, a lot more to come.

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@Dutchy,

Yes, as they are finally able go into these destroyed, burned out towns, they're finding more dead people. As expected. Poor buggers, I don't envy them this terrible work. There will inevitably be many more dead as this work continues. The problem will be identifying all of them.

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