By JASON TURNER
POLICE are concerned that a spike in suspected arson cases in Greater Dandenong has coincided with the recent heatwave.
Authorities fought five fires on January 4, as temperatures nudged 40 degrees. In the most severe incident, a grass fire in Dandenong South came perilously close to a new housing estate and factories, and forced the closure of the Dandenong Bypass for six hours.
Dandenong’s Acting Detective Sergeant Luke Kirton said the deliberately-lit fire started in Obec Mews, burning up to four hectares of grassland.
Police are seeking witnesses to this fire and several others on the same day, including:
■ 3.45am: Four drunken youths are believed to have started a fire on the roundabout at the intersection of Cleeland and Herbert streets, Dandenong.
■ Noon: Police spot a garden bed on fire at the Dandenong RSL, Clow Street, Dandenong.
■ 12.30pm: An old TV was set alight in the backyard of a vacant house in Grace Park Avenue, Springvale.
■ 3.45pm: A neighbour reported smelling smoke from a property in Aberdeen Drive, Dandenong North. The CFA extinguished a fence fire.
CLICK here for our gallery of the Dandenong South grass fire.
Police and the CFA also attended a fire on January 6, outside the Astra Billiards premises in Round Tower Road, Dandenong South, where a palm tree was set on fire and destroyed. Detective Sergeant Kirton said the spike in cases was concerning, particularly given the sweltering temperatures.
He called on the public to be mindful of the warm conditions, even when disposing of cigarette butts. “If people are found to be recklessly causing a bushfire, whether deliberately or not, they will face the same charges.”
Anyone with any information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit crimestoppers.com.au.
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