Source : Perth Now news
Multiple businesses have been damaged after a tobacco shop was firebombed, marking another consecutive night of arson attacks across a major city.
The tobacco store was set alight by an unknown offender after they broke into the Fitzroy North business in Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs on Monday morning.
Explosions were heard shortly after, with a dark coloured car seen leaving the scene.
Police and fire crews arrived at the business at 3.35am to find the shop fully ablaze.
Close to 30 firefighters were needed to control the blaze which damaged the tobacco store and spread to businesses on both sides.
No one was inside at the time of the fire, a Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson confirmed.
A crime scene has been established, with the fire being treated as suspicious.
The store on a busy shopping strip has been gutted, with images showing drink stock still intact inside a fridge and the shop’s exterior sign undamaged.
Officers remain at the scene during a wet morning in Melbourne, with police tape cornering off the shop.
Emergency services also responded to a separate suspicious fire about 30km away in Craigieburn.
Police believe a car was parked in a driveway when it was set on fire around 6.20am.
The fire also caused damage to the garage on the property.
The investigation remains ongoing, with a crime scene established.
A spate of firebombings and arson attacks has swept the city in the past week, including a suspicious fire at a Korean barbecue restaurant on Sunday.
Police said two males were seen breaking into the restaurant in Springvale, before fleeing the scene.
Shortly later, a teenage boy suffering burns was found at a fast food restaurant in Heatherton, about a 10-minute drive from the Springvale fire scene.
A 15-year-old boy is under police guard in hospital, being treated for burns allegedly sustained in the fire.
Just days earlier, six cars were set alight at separate locations in a single night.
There have been more than 150 tobacco store fires in Victoria since March 2023.
