Strike force to fight Australian arson

The weekend weather forecast is not favourable

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales say a strike force being set up to catch bush fire arsonists will bring together specialist resources from every affected region.

Residents have been trying to protect their homes as the fires get nearer

The commander of the force, John Laycock, said his men would coordinate inquiries across the state as well as looking for serial offenders.

The authorities believe many of more than 100 fires blazing around Sydney and elsewhere, which have destroyed hundreds of homes, were lit deliberately.

Five people have so far been arrested on suspicion of starting fires: three 15-year-old boys, a 20-year-old in Sydney and a 19-year-old man in Canberra, allegedly found lighting a fire near parliament.

"We will be unrelenting in our pursuit of anybody who has caused these acts of arson," said Commander Laycock.

However, police in Shellharbour, 100km (60 miles) south of Sydney, where the three boys were arrested, said the youths might receive counselling instead of stricter punishment.

Convicted arsonists face maximum jail terms of 14 years and fines of up to A$ 50,000 ($ 25,000).

Weekend warning

Fire-fighters tackling the blazes have been warned that the situation could worsen with soaring temperatures and dry conditions forecast for the weekend.

The flames are now less than 25 km (15 miles) from the centre of the New South Wales state capital, Sydney.

The fire was spitting burning embers into the back yard and on the roof

Pat Kennedy, Sydney resident

About 4,000 people have been evacuated and authorities say about 150 homes have been destroyed.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has promised A$1m ($507,000) in emergency aid from the government.

Authorities said the cost of the damage is at least A$20m ($10.15m).

Click here for a map of the fires threatening Sydney

About 5,000 fire-fighters are battling to try to contain the inferno, which is burning in a ring around Sydney.

Fire units have been rushing from flare-up to flare-up, while helicopters have been dropping water on the flames, stopping to fill up in back yards and swimming pools.

The fires have left Sydney covered in a dense blanket of smoke, its famous beaches blackened by ash and burnt leaves.

The NSW emergency services ministry has declined to hire an Ilyushin-76 fire-fighting plane, which can drop more than 40,000 litres (10,400 gallons) of water in eight seconds.

A spokesman for the ministry said such an aircraft had been tested after the 1994 bush fires around Sydney and found unsuitable for Australian eucalyptus forests.

A Canadian company is offering an Il-76 aircraft, crewed by Russians, at a rate of $9,000 an hour, plus expenses.

Wildlife devastated

The flames, which have been fanned by sweltering temperatures and high winds, have devastated large swathes of the region's natural habitat.

Thousands of animals, including koalas, possums and kangaroos, have been killed and about 247,000 acres of national parks destroyed.

Wildlife officials say it could take two years for the environment to regenerate.

Authorities are bracing themselves for worse to come.

Weather forecasters say that a dangerous combination of shifting winds, low humidity and rising temperatures will confront fire-fighters over the next few days.

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