As Australia's eastern states battle more than a hundred wildfires, local police are opening investigations into a small number of the blazes.
On Tuesday, Queensland's police commissioner Katarina Carroll announced she had established a taskforce to investigate eight fires, and said that some "have involved children playing." Wildfires are an annual occurrence in the area, with more than 130 fires currently burning across the neighboring eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales.
As of Tuesday midday, Queensland was battling 80 fires, said Queensland's acting premier Jackie Trad during a press conference. New South Wales had 52 bush and grass fires, with most in the state's north, according to its Rural Fire Service.
A 12-year-old boy was apprehended Monday behind a skate park in Queensland state, following investigations into a fire which destroyed bushland and part of a storage facility, according to police. And two 14-year-old girls who had been found at the scene of another "alleged deliberately-lit fire" are helping investigators with their inquiries, according to Queensland police.