WORLD> Asia-Pacific
Australia wildfire death toll reaches 200
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-17 19:18

Police suspect at least two of the fires were deliberately set, and have charged one man with arson causing death and lighting a wildfire. Brendan Sokaluk, 39, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years on the first charge and 15 years on the second. He is being held in protective custody to prevent revenge attacks against him.

On Monday, thousands of people on the social networking site Facebook joined vigilante groups that called for Sokaluk's death. By Tuesday, they had been taken down, though new ones popped up in their place.

Sokaluk's MySpace profile, in which he painted himself as a lonely, love-starved bachelor, was also deleted Tuesday. On his profile, he wrote in disparaging terms of a woman named "Alexandra."

On Tuesday, Alexandra's mother released a statement to the media through the Victoria police saying her family has been harassed since the link between Alexandra and Sokaluk became public. The woman, who police refused to identify, said her daughter had a three-month relationship with Sokaluk that ended a year ago.

Alexandra, shown on her MySpace profile wearing a Country Fire Authority uniform, is not a member of the organization but has helped raise money for it, her mother said.

The police declined to reveal Alexandra's last name or any other details.

MySpace's Australian director of Safety, David Batch, said the Web site was working with police and had suspended Sokaluk's profile pending the outcome of the investigation.

Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit was filed against electricity supplier SP AusNet alleging that defective power lines caused losses and damage in connection with one of the fires.

SP AusNet, which is 51 percent-owned by Singapore Power Group, which runs a 6.3 billion Australian dollar ($4 billion) gas and power network in southeast Australia that is one of the country's largest, vowed to fight the claim.

A government inquiry into the fire should be concluded first, the company contends.

"SP AusNet believes the claim is both premature and inappropriate," the company said Tuesday in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. "However, SP AusNet will vigorously defend the claim."

The inquiry, intended to investigate the fire, its causes, the preparedness of residents and emergency services responses, will deliver an initial report on August 17.

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