Fire bugs on a spree

POLICE are appealing for witnesses to seven fires which were deliberately lit in Greater Dandenong in less than a week.
Greater Dandenong CIU Detective Senior Constable Nick Lamb said the biggest blaze was in Box Street, Dandenong, and started about 3pm on 21 January.
It was lit behind Thomas Carol Reserve and burnt about three square kilometres of bushland.
“It took six CFA units two hours to put out,” Sen Const Lamb said.
“It appears that there were three previous attempts to start the fire before it took hold.”
He said those responsible also tried to start a second fire a short distance away.
“At the time about eight to 10 men described only as Sudanese in appearance were seen in the area,” he said.
He urged them and anyone with information to come forward to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Dandenong police on 9767 7444.
On 15 January about 9.30pm a fire was lit at the rear of a commercial premises on Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, near Crump Lane. It caused damage to the back of the building.
The following day about 1.30am a stolen Nissan Pulsar was dumped and set alight in Venture Circuit, Dandenong South.
About 4am on 17 January, accelerant was poured over a car parked outside a residential address in Len George Road, Keysborough, and set alight, destroying the vehicle.
About 6am the same day in Cambria Road, Keysborough, someone parked a stolen truck on the roadside, removed its registration plates and set it alight.
Sen Const Lamb said it was totally burnt out and witnesses saw a new model white-coloured sedan in the area at the time that police want to identify.
About 10.30pm that day, in Arnold Street, Noble Park, someone set fire to a paperbark tree on the nature strip.
A passing motorist saw the blaze, called the CFA and it was extinguished.
A stolen white Ford Econovan was dumped and set alight in Nicole Way, Dandenong South, on 18 January at 12.10am.
Police urged anyone with information about the fires to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au.