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WHITTLESEA, Australia (AFP) – .

Australian firefighters in ash-covered overalls joined sombre memorial services Sunday, a week after raging walls of flame incinerated rural towns and killed at least 181..

As Prime Minister Kevin Rudd led tributes to the victims of the country's worst wildfire disaster, firefighters warned the killer firestorms would continue to burn out of control for weeks..

And the search for the reasons behind the devastation continued, with police continuing to hunt for arsonists and survivors reportedly launching a lawsuit against a power company blamed for one blaze..

As the nation paused to remember, Rudd led an open-air service in Wandong, where he said his government would help ensure that communities razed in the fires were rebuilt..

He paid tribute to local volunteer firefighters, who stood on their trucks in orange overalls smeared with ashes from the bushfires which are still raging out of control in eight areas in Victoria state..

"You put yourselves last and your community first," Rudd said, before placing eucalyptus leaves and other Australian flora in a bowl of water as a symbol of remembrance and renewal..

Elsewhere in the disaster zone, Governor-General Quentin Bryce attended a church service in the hamlet of Whittlesea attended by survivors from nearby Kinglake, which was almost burned to the ground in the firestorm..

"It's obvious that people are so tired, they're absolutely exhausted," she told Sky News..

Services were also held in the state capital Melbourne, just 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the blazes, and on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in neighbouring New South Wales..

But firefighters warned the crisis was not yet over, with 4,300 firefighters struggling to control eight fires around Victoria despite an easing in the scorching heat and high winds seen last weekend..

"We are potentially talking weeks before we have things completely under control and we are only part-way through our fire season," said Department of Sustainability and Development spokesman Lee Miezis..

With the death toll expected to rise sharply, Indonesian forensic specialists who gained experience identifying bodies during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami arrived to help local authorities..

Meanwhile, the Age newspaper reported survivors were launching a class action against a Singapore-owned electricity firm alleging a downed power line sparked one of the killer firestorms near Kinglake..

Residents of the town would sue SP Ausnet and the Victoria state government alleging the power line set off a fire that killed at least 100 people and destroyed 1,000 homes, the newspaper reported..

Police investigating the causes of the fires had removed a length of fallen cable and a power pole as evidence, it said..

SP Ausnet, part of the Singapore Power Group, refused to comment directly on the lawsuit, saying its priority was restoring power to fire-affected areas as quickly as possible..

"We stand ready to assist the relevant authorities with their inquiries if it is necessary for us to do so," it said in a statement..

Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon said investigations into the cause of the blazes were continuing but warned angry residents to leave prosecuting alleged arsonists to police..

A man was due to appear in court Monday charged with causing death by arson in relation to one fire which killed more than 20 people..

"I know people are angry, and so are all of us in this community," Nixon said..

"But we need to kind of have a sense that the proper processes are in place and we need to go through the investigation and through the court case."

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