Ananova:

A 39-year-old man has been arrested in Australia in connection with a wildfire.

The Age newspaper reported the suspect is expected to be charged with arson causing death.

The paper said the suspect is from the town of Churchill. Police said they are certain that a fire that started near Churchill and killed at least 21 people was deliberately lit.

This comes as a blaze flared up in near Healesville in a reminder that the country's worst fire disaster may not be over yet. The death toll stands at 181 and was expected to rise beyond 200.

The tally of destroyed homes jumped by 762 to a total of about 1,800 in the wave of hundreds of wildfires that struck Victoria state a week ago. Australia prepared for a day of mourning, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying "It is important, it is very important that the nation grieves."

In one of more than a dozen blazes firefighters are still struggling to contain, flames hit a patch of extra-dry timber in a valley about 2 miles from Healesville, flaring up and sending embers and smoke over the town, Stuart Ord of Victoria state's Department of Sustainability and the Environment said.

"The fire's been backing down a gully. It's obviously either reached some dry fuels, or sometimes in a gully we have erratic winds," he said, after fire officials issued a warning that town residents should patrol their properties for airborne embers.

Firefighters raced to take advantage of cooler weather, rain and lighter winds and lit controlled burns Friday in efforts to prevent further breakouts, and smoke still clouded the sky over part of the 1,500 square mile disaster zone.