Former CFA volunteer lit fatal fire: court

A former volunteer fireman accused of lighting a Black Saturday fire that claimed 10 lives told a number of lies to cover up his crime, prosecutors say.

Brendan James Sokaluk, 42, admitted to police he started the fire but said it happened accidentally when ash dropped out his car window, the Victorian Supreme Court heard on Monday.

The 36,000-hectare fire near Churchill in Victoria's east "wrought vast destruction", destroying 156 homes and claiming 10 lives.

Prosecutors allege Sokaluk told different lies to different people about why he was in the Glendonald Road area on February 7, 2009 - the day of the fire.

Sokaluk's Holden sedan broke down on the road near where the fire is said to have started.

He told one person he was on his way to a wedding, while he told others he was visiting a friend in the area.

Some days later Sokaluk contacted Crime Stoppers to say he saw a Department of Sustainability and Environment fireman light the fire, the court heard.

But Sokaluk's barrister Jane Dixon SC said her client, who has autism, was an easy person to blame for the fire, which may not have been deliberately lit.

"Brendan Sokaluk is an easy target," she said.

"So easy that he even managed to make himself believe that something he did must have caused the fire in Glendonald Road. Now, perhaps, Brendan Sokaluk's presence in Glendonald Road did cause a fire to ignite there. Perhaps not."

Prosecutor Ray Elston SC said three experts would testify that the fire was deliberately lit, including one who by the next day had ruled out all non-deliberate causes of ignition.

He said one of the experts would say the fire was caused by an introduced ignition source something like a naked flame to material such as fallen leaves, small branches or sticks.

"Any other means of natural ignition were eliminated," Mr Elston said.

But Ms Dixon said a defence expert would testify there were no telltale pieces of evidence consistent with deliberate arson as is often found in bushfire.

The defence expert Dr Kevin Tolhurst will testify that analysis of the fire by the prosecution was deficient.

Ms Dixon said there were a number of other possible causes of ignition including spontaneous combustion of rubbish or a car.

Around the time the fire began, Sokaluk telephoned triple-zero to report the fire and told the operator: "It's getting big."

A short time later Sokaluk's car broke down on Glendonald Road and he was offered a lift out of the area by some people going past.

But later in the day it is alleged Sokaluk re-entered the fire scene and took sanctuary from the fire in a local's house.

When interviewed by police five days after the fire, Sokaluk explained what he believed happened.

"So I was smoking, and had a burnt bit fell off to the floor, so I used a bit of paper to pick it up," he told police.

"I didn't properly so I squished it out sort of thing, and when I threw the paper on the road it ignited. I didn't know, it was too late.

"I did a bad thing and I'm scared s***, s*** scared."

The blaze, which was fuelled by extreme temperatures, strong winds and low humidity, led to 10 deaths in the townships of Callignee, Coongulla and Hazelwood South.

Sokaluk, who was a CFA volunteer from 1987 to 1988, has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of arson causing death.

The trial before Justice Paul Coghlan continues on Wednesday.