Australia hunts deadly bushfire arsonists

(Updates with arson investigation launched, details, quotes)

SYDNEY, Feb 10 - Australian police combed through blackened wastelands on Tuesday, searching for clues in the hunt for arsonists they believe started some of the nation's deadliest bushfires.

At least 173 people have been confirmed killed in the fires, although the Australian newspaper said the toll may reach 230.

Victoria state Police Commissioner Christine Nixon on Tuesday launched "Operation Phoenix", the biggest arson investigation in the country's history, vowing to catch those that sparked the deadly blazes.

"These people are terrorists and need to be treated as terrorists," said South Australia state Premier Mike Rann, adding 20 percent of fires each year in his state were deliberately lit.

Victoria state Premier John Brumby said those found guilty could face manslaughter or murder charges.

The entire disaster area, encompassing more than 20 towns north of Melbourne, is now a crime zone. Police tape flutters around charred houses where bodies were discovered.

Authorities say the toll will continue to rise as they search more than 750 properties damaged in the infernos on Saturday night. About 25 fires are still burning.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the bushfires "mass murder" and suspended his political schedule for a second day to try and comfort a grieving nation.

The fires have increased pressure on Rudd to take firm action on climate change as scientists blamed global warming for conditions that fuelled the disaster.

"This week's tragedy shows that we are now dealing with a changed climate in Australia and it is now apparent to all just how much we stand to lose," Greenpeace campaigner Trish Harrup said in a statement.

She said the bushfires provide "a terrifying window into life on a warming planet".

VULNERABLE

Australia is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change because of its hot, dry environment, but with its dependence on coal-fired power, Rudd has set a target to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent by 2020.

The bushfire tragedy is the worst natural disaster in Australia in 110 years. The previous worst bushfire was the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 which killed 75 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

Stories of horror, courage and luck continued to emerge as shocked towns rallied to rebuild their shattered lives.

Neville Goulding jumped into a reservoir on his farm to escape the blaze. "I ran and jumped in the dam and pulled my shirt over my head and stayed there for an hour and a half until I could get out, said Goulding.

One woman told Australian television how she and her children survived by hiding in a wombat hole in the ground. Many Australian animals survive bushfires by burrowing.

Ross Buchanan, in the town of Kinglake where more than 30 died, lost his two children in a blaze, after taking them to his in-laws in another town, where he thought they would be safe.

While Buchanan battled to save his Kinglake home, his children died as fire swept through the other town.

Victoria has ordered a Royal Commission of Inquiry, which has sweeping powers, to probe all aspects of the bushfires, including a review of safety guidelines.

Officials say the golden rule of surviving forest fires is to evacuate early or fight to the bitter end, but experts say that it appears many victims panicked and fled at the worst time. Some were incinerated in cars as they tried to outrun the flames.

So far, about 3,500 square km (1,350 sq miles) have been burnt in the Victoria fires, with about 3,400 firefighters still battling the blazes, the state's Country Fire Authority said.