Fire crews remain at the scene of a blaze that destroyed a Melbourne mattress store, with investigations likely to continue well into Sunday night after the fire was deemed a suspected arson attack.
Emergency crews responded to several calls about a two-storey building on fire at Nunawading in the city’s east about 2.20am on Sunday.
They arrived to find large plumes of smoke and flames coming out of the front of a Forty Winks store, according to the Fire Rescue Victoria assistant chief fire officer, Jamie Hansen.
“[Firefighters] made an internal attack to try to quell that fire as much as they could,” he said. “However, the fuel load was just too much to make any more progress.”
The fire engulfed the back of the building before moving across to a second building, forcing crews to retreat to fight the fire externally because of fears the building would collapse.
About 30 people in nearby homes were evacuated because of the smoke. No one was injured.
More than 95 firefighters and 26 trucks were deployed to fight the flames, with the fire brought under control after about four hours.
“Victoria police will be investigating the cause of the fire with the arson squad and they have deemed it to be suspicious,” Hansen said.
Firefighters saved adjoining retailers from the fire, including a paint store containing flammable solvents.
after newsletter promotion
“To the left-hand side of the building, there’s a large bicycle retailer [and] we’ve managed to keep the fire from that premise,” Hansen said.
An alert was issued to nearby communities urging people to close windows and doors and turn off heating and cooling systems to avoid the smoke.
Firefighters will be at the scene for the rest of the day and into the night.
