Police on Tuesday confirmed that 173 people have perished in the bushfires across the state of Victoria, Australia

The death toll from the bushfires is certain to rise further as more remains are found in more than 700 burnt-out homes strewn through the 330,000ha so far razed in Australia's worst bushfire disaster.

Most of the latest people confirmed dead were killed in the small towns of Strathewen and St Andrews, on Melbourne's bushy northeastern fringe.

There are now 22 people confirmed dead at St Andrews, a town with a population of about 1,500 people. Strathewen, with only 450 people prior to the bushfires, lost 26 residents to the inferno that swept through on Saturday.

Whole towns have been declared crime scenes, with fears many of the fires that broke out on Saturday and claimed so many lives were deliberately lit.

But police say they are closing in on an arsonist thought responsible for the deadly Churchill-Jeeralang fire in Gippsland and recent fires at nearby Boolarra.

Fire authorities fear the worst of the fires could take weeks to contain.

Bushfire relief funds were receiving $1 million in donations per hour yesterday, with $15 million pledged by last night.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has vowed to rebuild the razed communities, but as the toll mounts the the grim fates of many of their people are becoming clearer.  Thirty-five people died in the small town of Kinglake alone.

Three bodies were found crowded in a bath.  They must have hoped the water would save them but instead it would have boiled in the intense heat.

Other bodies were found in burnt-out cars, sitting stricken on the road where the fires caught up to their drivers' desperate attempts to outrun the danger.

Further north, in Flowerdale, residents consider themselves the forgotten town.  While authorities have been working their way into other towns, Flowerdale's survivors have been left to cope on their own.

Police believed the same man who lit the devastating Delburn Complex of fires around nearby Boolarra last month, destroying 29 houses and more than 6000ha, was also responsible for the Churchill blaze.

It was expected police would release later today an image of a man sought for questioning over the fires.

Specialist teams used in the aftermath of the Bali bombings were continuing the gruesome task of identifying victims as hundreds of reinforcement firefighters were heading from interstate to relieve crews which had been working nearly non-stop since the emergency began. 

The army now has more than 400 soldiers working alongside emergency services.

In some rare good news for the embattled crews, a fire south of Bendigo was reported to have been contained this morning.  But a wind change forecast for later today could fan the flames of other fires.

Isolated showers are predicted on and south of the divide on Tuesday but it will remain dry in the north.

Moderate to fresh southwest to southerly winds are forecast, with very high to extreme fire danger in the north.

A fire weather warning is in place for the northern country and north central forecast districts, with humidity down to 14 per cent and winds up to 45km/h.

More than 240 firefighters from NSW, 95 from the ACT, 94 from Tasmania and 69 from South Australia have joined Victorian crews, along with disaster identification experts from around the nation.

A further 22 firefighters from Western Australia are expected to arrive in Melbourne on Tuesday.

 

Sources
- http://www.news.com.au
- http://bigpondnews.com