A 12-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged by Ballarat detectives with starting the Mt Clear fire on New Year's Eve.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
All articles from our website & app
The digital version of This Week's Paper
Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox
All articles from the other in your area
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.
