Police are on the hunt for arsonists after a string of suspicious fires in Melton and surrounding areas.
As Victoria sweltered through one of its hottest periods last week, CFA and other emergency services personnel battled fires in Diggers Rest, Taylors Lakes, Parwan, Brookfield, Calder Park, Sunbury and Little River. Some of the blazes threatened homes and closed roads.
Investigators believe at least six of those fires were deliberately lit.
Last Tuesday, a fire in Sunbury led to the Calder Freeway being closed between Gap and Vineyard roads in Diggers Rest for several hours, while an emergency warning was issued to residents.
Sunbury CFA station officer Adam Whitford said the fire took about an hour to control. Police are investigating whether that fire was linked to four blazes that started on Friday morning.
The fires – at Taylors Lakes, Calder Park and Diggers Rest along the Calder Freeway, and one at Racecourse Road in Sunbury – all started between 10.30am and 11am.
Melton police are also seeking information about a blaze in Plumpton on January 7. Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Jenks said the fire, which burnt 20 hectares, was going all day and had the potential to destroy buildings. Police believe the fire was started by a stolen vehicle that was abandoned and set alight.
It comes after Melton police arrested an 18-year-old Melton man who was observed lighting a grass fire on vacant land off Faircraft Drive, Brookfield, last Tuesday. “Quick-thinking residents were able to extinguish the fire before it spread or caused damage,” Detective Jenks said.
Firefighters also attended a blaze in Parwan on Wednesday, while residents in Exford, Parwan, Hopetoun Park, Maddingley and Bacchus Marsh were advised to monitor conditions.
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