'Hell's Fury': Fires Ravage Australia, Arson suspected

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, stated, "What do you say about anyone like that?... There's no words to describe it, other than, it's mass murder."

WHITTLESEA, Australia (Catholic Online) - The latest reports have the current death toll reaching 171 as 24 blazes continue to rage uncontrollably in Australia.

The locals have taken to calling the horrid fires "Hell's Fury." More than 700 homes have been destroyed. Entire towns have been declared as "crime scenes".

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of all of this destruction and growing human tragedy is that these fires appear to have been the work of at least one arsonist.

Police reports indicate that the same person who have lit the Delburn Complex of fires last month may have set the large Churchill blaze this time around. Those horrific blazes last month destroyed 29 houses.

The authorities are closing in on at least one arsonist thought to be responsible for several of the fires. There may be more.

During an emotional interview on Australian television, where he was asked about the allegation that the fires may have been intentionally set, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, stated, "What do you say about anyone like that?... There's no words to describe it, other than, it's mass murder."

Christopher Harvey is a survivor of the hell on earth. He was interviewed by Reuters as he walked through Kinglake, an area where most of the people were killed by the hungry flames. He said with deep emotion, "Everybody's gone. Everybody's gone. Everybody. Their houses are gone. They're all dead in the houses there. Everybody's dead."

There is a growing discussion of whether the blaze has a terrorism connection. If not caused by a formal terrorist group, most Australians view 'Hell's Fury' as as having inflicted terror upon them and their Nation.

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