Police have made a breakthrough in Victoria's massive arson investigation with the arrest of a Gippsland, Vic, man on Friday.
The 39-year-old Churchill man was arrested by members of police taskforce Ignis, which has been investigating the cause of the fires.
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 has been remanded to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.
The maximum penalty is 25 years.
At least 10 people died as a result of the Churchill blaze and police expect the toll to rise.
Investigators have strong concerns some of the other bushfires near Melbourne may be the action of copycat arsonists, outgoing Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said this morning.
"There always are (concerns) with arsonists because that's part of their behaviour, to gain attention, to have people look at their work and that's the problem for us," she told journalists in Alexandra near the 108,000-hectare Yea-Murrundindi complex fire this afternoon.
"So part of (the challenge) when we're trying to pursue these arsonists is we want information from people but we don't want to encourage any of these (arsonists) as well."
Ms Nixon said police were still investigating claims of arson elsewhere in the state.
On Friday morning, Victorian police said they were investigating the massive Marysville bushfire, believing it may have been deliberately lit, too.
"To the arsonists out there, we're being very cautious, we're looking to see who's possibly involved in these investigations but we hope to have some outcome soon," she said.
