A vehicle was driven into a shop on Victoria Street in Melbourne's inner north-east about 4.15am on Monday before the building was set alight, and the fire that followed damaged around 10 shops and shut one of the city's busiest roads through the morning peak.
Fire Rescue Victoria crews arrived within three minutes to find the shop fully alight. About 80 firefighters and roughly 25 trucks fought the blaze, which was brought under control by about 6am and stopped before it could spread beyond the building. The premises was unoccupied and no injuries have been reported.
Victoria Police said they were investigating a ram raid and fire, and that "unknown offenders drove a vehicle into the business before setting the building alight" and fled. A white car was left protruding from the shopfront. Police established a crime scene and appealed for witnesses and dashcam or CCTV footage. No arrests had been made by Monday morning.
“Around 10 shops within the one building were impacted by the fire," a Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson said, according to AAP. Shopfronts on either side of the targeted business were also damaged.”
Victoria Street, which runs along the Richmond and Abbotsford boundary, was closed to cars and trams in both directions during the morning peak, with SBS reporting the closure between Church and Hoddle streets and three tram routes suspended. VicEmergency issued a community safety alert for thick smoke in the area while crews remained on scene through the morning.
The business struck by the vehicle is believed to be a tobacco shop, AAP reported. Five days earlier, police confirmed a deliberately lit fire at a convenience store on Bridge Road in Richmond about 3.30am on 1 July, which investigators treated as suspicious and targeted. Police have not publicly linked the two fires.
After the Bridge Road fire, Detective Senior Constable Ruby Roberts of the Yarra crime investigation unit put the appeal plainly: "If people are aware of illicit activity linked to a tobacco store or other business near them, we need them to come forward."
The investigation into Monday's fire continues, and police have asked anyone with information about the vehicle or the offenders to contact them. Victoria Street remained partly closed into Monday morning while fire crews finished making the site safe.
