A composite of a man wanted for questioning in a suspicious scrub fire that started yesterday in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe inset over a scene at Churchill, where an arrest has been made by arson investigators. He has been charged with one count of arson causing death, one count of intentionally lighting a bushfire and one count of possessing child pornography He was arrested at 4pm yesterday. He has been remanded to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday. His lawyer said the man was in a fragile mental state and he did not appear in court.

The maximum penalty for arson causing death is 25 years. At least ten people died as a result of the Churchill blaze and police expect the toll to rise. Arsonists usually looked for attention and also had other behavioural issues, Ms Nixon said. Police were called to a fire in a paddock in the town of Baxter on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, about 10.45pm last night. It followed an earlier three-hectare scrub fire that began in the Yarra Flats at East Ivanhoe, closer to the city, about 3pm yesterday. Police have released an image of a man wanted for questioning over the Ivanhoe blaze that threatened houses, disrupted traffic and sent a plume of smoke across several suburbs.

"Last night, we did, in fact, have two fires that were lit ," Ms Nixon said She said police were also working around the clock in the pursuit of arsonists behind the Marysville blaze. Fifteen lives were lost at Marysville, amid fears that that death toll could top 100 - a fifth of the town's population. "For us, it's a matter to continue to get information from the community to work through it and to find these people as soon as we can," Ms Nixon told the Nine Network. "We're very keen to do that as, obviously, the whole community wants us to."

She also has confirmed police were following up reports of looting, adding it was disappointing to see such acts occurring at a time of such devastation. "When homes are vulnerable it's really sad to see that kind of thing happening," Ms Nixon said. "We're not seeing a lot of it, but we're seeing some of it." She called on people to report looting to the police so they could get on top of the problem quickly. Loading

"We're seeing some looting, but we have a lot of police officers out there, a lot of volunteers and others who are paying attention to the issue," she said. AAP and John Silvester

