Arson charge as historic house gutted

Firefighters donned breathing gear for the firefight. Picture: KEITH PAKENHAM - CFA

By CASEY NEILL

A DANDENONG North man will answer arson charges over a fire that destroyed a historic home on Thursday night.
Greater Dandenong CIU Detective Senior Constable Leanne Clinton said the 31-year-old man faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday 21 August and was remanded to re-appear at a later date.
Experts are still working to determine how the fire in the Carlton Road, Dandenong North, home started.
A CFA spokeswoman said crews were called to Ferring Homestead just before 7pm on 20 August and deemed the blaze under control just after 7pm.
“The house was well alight,” she said.
She said six trucks, from Dandenong and Hallam, responded to the call to the single-storey weatherboard homestead, which was about 100 years old and covered by a heritage overlay.
It’s unclear whether anyone aside from the charged man was inside the home at the time of the fire.