Australian police on Wednesday charged a volunteer firefighter with arson, alleging he lit seven blazes before returning to help colleagues extinguish them.
The man was allegedly seen sitting in a vehicle on Tuesday afternoon shortly before a fire broke out nearby.
“Police will allege in court that the man lit the fire and left the area before returning to respond to the fire as part of his duties as a volunteer firefighter,” police said in a statement.
He was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with seven counts of causing a fire and being reckless to its spread.
Six people have been killed, hundreds of homes destroyed and more than 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) scorched across Australia since early October.
Dozens of fires also burn in the neighbouring state of Queensland and authorities had ordered an evacuation in towns such as Noosa North Shore and Woodgate.
The fires have been fuelled by tinder-dry conditions after three years of drought that experts say has been exacerbated by climate change, a factor that has sparked a sharp political debate in recent days.
Queensland is on high alert amid severe fire conditions, with a forecast wind change expected to worsen several large blazes in difficult-to-access areas of the state.
About 70 fires were burning in the state, with Pechey residents told the safest option was to leave the area as conditions are currently too dangerous.
More than 1,800 firefighters were battling those blazes, 66 of which were uncontained.
Several people have been arrested in recent weeks for deliberately lighting fires, including a 51-year-old man accused of sparking a huge blaze in an attempt to protect his cannabis crop.