24 people have been arrested for deliberately starting brushfires in Australia, police say
(KFTK/AP) - Authorities in Australia have released some numbers on how many people have been arrested for alleged deliberately-lit bushfires in the past few months.
New South Wales Police Force has taken legal action against 183 people for 205 bushfire-related offenses. Twenty-four people have been charged over allegedly starting bushfires.
Other legal actions could range from cautions through to criminal charges.
So far, the blazes have killed 25 people, destroyed 2,000 homes and scorched an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland. Three people in New South Wales state who were reported missing earlier Tuesday were later found, police said.
Across New South Wales, 130 fires were still burning on Tuesday, around 50 of which were uncontrolled.
