A 12-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged by Ballarat detectives with starting the Mt Clear fire on New Year's Eve.
He will appear at a children's court at a date to be fixed while another boy, aged 11, was arrested, later released, and is expected to be charged on summons.
The fire started about 4.45pm on December 31 and took more than three hours to contain.
The heavy rain that fell that night helped firefighters get on top of the blaze that had burned 30 hectares and posed a threat to several homes.
