UPDATED 12.16PM: The man accused of starting Tuesday's One Tree Hill/Strathfieldsaye fire is a 36-year-old from Bendigo, who has been charged with recklessly cause bushfire and criminal damage by fire, police say.
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Central Goldfields Crime Investigation Unit detectives charged the man after what they described as "an allegedly suspicious car fire in Strathfieldsaye" on Tuesday, March 26.
Police said emergency services had responded to reports a vehicle was on fire in bushland near Pioneer Road in Strathfieldsaye at about 2pm on Tuesday.
No-one was injured in the blaze, which burnt 0.6 hectares, according to Forest Fire Management Victoria.
FFMVic and CFA ground crews, supported by a water-bombing helicopter, tackled the blaze at One Tree Hill in the Greater Bendigo National Park, which was first reported at 1.30pm, FFMVic said.
The fire was under control at 7.30pm on Tuesday.
FFMVic acknowledged the cause of the fire was a burnt-out car, which Victoria Police were investigating.
The man who has been charged was bailed and is due to appear at Bendigo Magistrates' Court today.
EARLIER: A man has been charged with arson in connection with a fire that burnt around half-a-hectare of bush in the One Tree Hill area.
Police say a burnt out car was found at the fire scene which they believe started the blaze.
"There was a car fire that's caused about a half-a-hectare scrub fire in the bush off Pioneer Track in the One Tree Hill/Strathfieldsaye area," Detective Senior Constable Joel Peters from Central Goldfields Criminal Investigation Unit said.
Detective Peters said the man was arrested and charged on Tuesday, March 26.
Police didn't believe the car, a Ford sedan, was stolen, he said.
Air support needed to control fire
The fire, which was reported just after 1pm on Tuesday, March 26, closed Edwards Road in Strathfieldsaye.
It was tackled with the aid of at least 14 firefighting appliances, including a helicopter, and was brought under control and declared safe by 5pm.
However, it continued to burn in dense, hard-to-access scrub and smoke was still drifting over Bendigo the following morning.
