Four homes lost, worst over in Vic fires

A huge bushfire burning in the Grampians region of Victoria is now 41-thousand hectares in size. Source: AAP

VICTORIA'S fire chief says the worst of the state's bushfire emergency is over.

Four homes have been lost in the Grampians fire, one of 34 still active across the state.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says fires, mostly caused by lightning, have burned through 100,000 hectares.

Four homes have been lost in Victoria's Grampians region along with numerous sheds and many kilometres of fencing, and up to 7500 sheep have been affected, most of which will have to be put down.

There are no emergency warnings currently in place.

Residents who were evacuated in the Grampians will be allowed back Saturday afternoon.

Mr Lapsley said 34 fires are listed as still going in Victoria, the main ones being in the Grampians, the Mallee, Gippsland and Big River Country.

Most of the fires were caused by lightning during the past two nights but a number were caused by human hand, either by recklessness or arson, Mr Lapsley said.

This included a fire in Melbourne's outer northern suburb of Epping, where police are investigating a suspicious vehicle after fire began in multiple spots on the roadside.

Mr Lapsley says the worst appears to be over.

"I think the worst is behind us," Mr Lapsley said.

However, fire crews are still monitoring north east Victoria which is still experiencing hot conditions.

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Aust man faces US sex charge extradition

AN Australian man faces extradition to the US after allegedly posing as a teenage girl or boy online to trick and then extort boys into performing sex acts on the internet.

Mark Anthony Warren, 49, was arrested in NSW after an investigation by the FBI, US attorney for the southern district of New York, Preet Bharara, announced on Friday.

"As alleged, Mark Anthony Warren used social media and phoney profiles to ensnare his minor victims and later force them into engaging in sexually explicit acts that he recorded," Bharara said.

"Warren allegedly believed he could hide behind the anonymity of the internet and use special computer software to escape detection, but he was sorely mistaken."

One of Warren's alleged victims was a 14-year-old New York boy.

When Warren tricked boys into engaging in sexually explicit conduct online, he secretly recorded it and then threatened to disseminate the videos unless the children produced and sent him additional sexually explicit videos, prosecutors allege.

He allegedly created bogus accounts on various social media websites using false teenage girl and boy identities to trick the children.

Warren is charged with one count of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.

Each charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in US federal prison and a maximum 30 years.

He is also charged with receipt and distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20.

Bharara praised the FBI, NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police.

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Vic Grampians residents begin evacuation

Residents in Victoria's Grampians region have begun evacuating due to a large bushfire. Source: AAP

A BUSHFIRE burning in northwest Victoria could claim more lives and damage properties, the state's fire services commissioner says.

The 21,000-hectare bushfire in the Grampians region has already killed one person at Roses Gap and is now threatening Halls Gap and surrounding towns.

An evacuation notice has been issued for the towns of Halls Gap, Pomonal, Bellfield, Lake Fyans, Lake Lonsdale, Roses Gap, Dadswells Bridge, Heatherlie and Ledcourt.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says the threat to the area will increase as a southwesterly change comes through on Friday afternoon.

The fire is expected to move into the holiday town of Halls Gap.

"There is a fair chance of losing property and even, if people are caught in the wrong space, a life could be lost," he told reporters.

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Arsonists light Vic urban fringe fires

ARSONISTS have deliberately sparked 12 fires in Victoria as soaring temperatures and strong winds create the most dangerous fire conditions since Black Saturday.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said police believe 12 of the 68 fires burning across the state were deliberately lit.

Most of those fires were sparked on the urban fringes of Melbourne, including three grass fires in Epping, in the city's north.

Detectives are now investigating those fires.

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Aust-first hand therapy aims to close gap

IN an Australian first, Royal Melbourne Hospital has launched a rehab clinic providing dedicated support to ensure stroke victims regain use of their hands and arms.

The standard three-week rehabilitation course for public stroke patients is focused on getting them to walk out the door in the limited timeframe. That typically comes at the expense of hand therapy, which means menial tasks such as making a cup of tea, hugging a loved one or even doing up the buttons on a shirt often becomes an Everest-shaped hurdle.

But the rehab clinic, the Hand Hub, is now trying to bridge that divide.

The 750 patients expected to complete their rehab at the Hand Hub this year will use a series of specifically designed video games to restore the dexterity and strength in their hands.

Professor Fary Khan, the hospital's director of rehabilitation services, says the program is the first in Australia dedicated to hand and arm therapy.

"There's a limited timeframe we have to work with limited resources so the focus of course is to get patients to be able to turn in bed, to sit up, to walk.

"As a result we see people in the community years after a stroke who have been discharged with inadequate support and treatment and still have no movement in their arm," she said.

The Hand Hub was set up with a $220,000 state government grant, but more funding is needed if the hospital is to expand its program and have a widespread impact.

Prof Khan envisions a set-up that would allow one therapist to monitor up to 10 patients as they work through the program on their computer at home.

Sixty per cent of public patients are discharged after a stroke or brain injury with impaired hand function, Prof Khan said.

"They're just sitting there, totally dependent on their loved ones," she said.

"You can't measure those hours a carer puts in and it's not just the personal cost of that but the economic burden loss of employment that flows on from that.

"This is an attempt to address that gap in services."

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Sydney home hit with suspected Molotov

AN elderly couple have escaped from a suspicious fire police believe was sparked by a Molotov cocktail thrown at their home in Sydney's northwest.

The couple were woken by a loud noise in the early hours of Tuesday and found a small fire burning in the living room of their Quakers Hill home, Fire and Rescue NSW said.

Police said in a statement they believed the fire was started by a Molotov cocktail.

The man, 60, and the woman, 58 aren't known to police.

The couple had extinguished the fire before emergency services arrived and were uninjured aside from inhaling some smoke.

A crime scene has been established and investigations continue.

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Father not a danger to daughter: police

Emergency workers are searching for Greg Hutchings and daughter Eeva Dorendahl(pic)in NSW. Source: AAP

EMERGENCY service volunteers and police are searching scrubland for a father and daughter who have gone missing on NSW's far north coast.

Greg Hutchings, 35, and four-year-old Eeva Dorendahl were last seen at Pottsville at about 12.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday, but a police spokeswoman says they do not believe she is in danger from her father.

Police say the pair were due to meet family in the area about midday but never arrived.

It's believed they do not have access to a car, and family members hold serious concerns for the pair's welfare.

About 20 State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers joined police for a ground search for the pair at Pottsville on Monday morning.

The search has been focusing on bushland and scrub around the coastal road, Elfran Avenue.

It will extend to other areas later in the afternoon, a police spokeswoman told AAP.

The ABC has reported that Eeva had been staying at her father's house at Pottsville but was due to return home to her mother at Kin Kin on the Sunshine Coast.

It reported that the father had sent a text to say they were on their way.

"Obviously the mother is distraught at this time and his family are also concerned but we're making every effort to contact anybody he knows in the area and we need the assistance of the public to help locate the father and his four-year-old daughter," Acting Inspector Warwick Rhodes told ABC radio.

Mr Hutchings is of Caucasian appearance, about 175cm tall, with short brown curly hair and of a thin build.

Police say he was last seen wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, grey trousers and carrying a black backpack.

Eeva is also of Caucasian appearance, with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

She was last seen wearing an oversized blue and white-coloured shirt and multicoloured board shorts.

Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Redcliffe by-election set for February 22

THE by-election for the Queensland state seat of Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, will be held on February 22.

The seat became vacant after former LNP member Scott Driscoll quit parliament in November because he was found guilty of misleading the house about his financial and business interests.

He had already quit the party, having moved to the parliamentary crossbenches, in April 2013 when the allegations surfaced.

Premier Campbell Newman announced the by-election date on Monday after touring the Redcliffe Hospital.

He apologised and pleaded with voters to not judge the LNP for Mr Driscoll's failures.

Registered nurse Kerri-Anne Dooley will represent the LNP at the Redcliffe by-election.

Labor's candidate is former federal MP Yvette D'Ath.

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Trio attempt to abduct man in Sydney

A MAN has escaped an abduction attempt in a Sydney car park, police say.

The 29-year-old was getting out of his vehicle in an underground car park in Dulwich Hill in Sydney's inner west on Saturday night when three men allegedly approached him.

He was then assaulted, with the trio taking his keys, mobile phone and wallet, police say.

The men then allegedly tried to put the man into a hatchback, but he escaped and ran to a friend's unit.

Police are now looking for the three men.

One is described as being of Asian appearance of about 20 years old.

The other two are described as being of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean appearance and about 20 years old.

Police urge anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Suspicious fire destroys mowing company

FIFTY firefighters were needed to bring a roaring fire under control at a lawn-mowing business north of Adelaide.

The blaze in Willaston, which was well alight by 5am on Sunday, is being treated as suspicious.

A fire service spokeswoman says it took two hours to contain the fire, and it would take several hours to extinguish it.

"The damage bill has been set at about $500,000 and the cause is believed to be suspicious," she said.

Sergeant Andrew Pomeray said investigations were under way into the cause of the fire.

"We believe there may be some evidence of a break-in," he said.

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