Australia to rethink fire policy

Should bushfire policy change? Bushfire dilemma: Flee or fight?

The Australian government has said it would remove bureaucratic hurdles that have prevented the creation of a nationwide fire alert system.

It is thought that such a system could have saved lives at the weekend, when bushfires tore through the state of Victoria, killing at least 181 people.

A massive police inquiry is continuing into Australia's worst-ever bushfires.

Earlier, police reportedly quizzed two men in connection with allegations of looting in a badly fire-hit area.

Fundraising

Privacy laws and arguments over funding have been obstacles in the way of a nationwide telephone fire alert system - but the federal government has indicated that it will move quickly to create one.

See map of fires

Such a system may have saved lives by sending text messages to mobile phones urging residents to flee.

Police now believe that arsonists were responsible for at least two of the deadly fires.

Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon said a fire in Churchill - about 90 miles (140km) south-east of Melbourne - which killed at least 21 people, was deliberately started.

Nicole Kidman is one of the celebrity names supporting the telethon

She added that it was possible a devastating blaze that killed at least 15 people in the town of Marysville was the work of arsonists.

Police would charge anyone suspected of starting one of the fatal bushfires with murder by arson, which carries a maximum 25-year jail penalty, she said.

Later on Thursday, a telethon is being broadcast on national television to help raise money for those affected by the fires.

Some of Australia's biggest stars throwing their weight behind the event include actors Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, Olympian Cathy Freeman and cricketer Shane Warne.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced a day of national mourning, and said there would be a memorial service to remember the victims of the bushfires.

Mr Rudd has described the bushfires as "mass murder", and pledged to rebuild damaged communities, with no limit on federal spending.

The fires injured some 500 people, left nearly 5,000 people homeless and razed 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of land.

Difficult identification

Despite rain overnight and cooler weather on Thursday, firefighters were continuing to battle several blazes.

With bodies still being retrieved from some charred towns, police have barred some residents from returning to their homes, saying the scenes would be too gruesome to bear.