MELBOURNE, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- An angry crowd yelled and beat on the side of a van carrying the first arson suspect charged in the Australian brush fires to Melbourne Friday.
The 39-year-old man was transferred from the police station in Morwell to Melbourne to be held in protective custody, The Age reported. He was arrested Thursday in Churchill, where he allegedly started a fire last Saturday that killed 21 people.
"They want to hang him," said a police officer from Gippsland, the rural area northeast of Melbourne hard hit by the fires.
Investigators said the man, whose identity is under a suppression order, had been under surveillance for days before his arrest.
The suspect faces a long prison term if he is convicted of arson causing death and deliberately starting a brush fire. He has also been charged with possession of child pornography.
He is to appear in court in Melbourne Monday. Officials said they are concerned about his safety even behind bars.
"There are prisoners who have lost relatives in the fires," a source in the corrections department said.
A total of 181 deaths have been confirmed and about 8,000 people are homeless.
