By VANESSA VALENZUELA
POLICE are hunting arsonists responsible for a spate of deliberate fires which blazed through Brimbank last week.
Eight fire trucks were called to Balfour Ave in Sunshine North where cars and tyres were found alight near the railway line after 1pm last Thursday.
Similar fires also occurred at the storage site the night before and train services were halted in the area to allow access.
A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesperson said authorities would search the site for more clues and the fire has been deemed as “suspicious”.
The blaze comes just days after three fires were deliberately lit in and around Brimbank Park on 8 January and another four fires lit in an industrial area in Sunshine on Wednesday.
A nursing home and back fences of several proprieties came under threat from a fire that spread through Maribyrnong Valley Parklands just before 8pm.
MFB communications controller Trevor Woodward said although several sleepers were burned, a rail embankment near the park’s edge acted as a fire break and crews were able to stop the fire from spreading to homes in Keilor East.
Western Metropolitan MP Andrew Elsbury said the news of several deliberately lit fires in Brimbank is of “grave concern.”
“With serious fires burning throughout Australia it is unbelievable that anyone would deliberately start a fire,” Mr Elbsury said.
“Those responsible for the fires need to understand the very real potential for fire to get away, especially in Tuesday night’s gusty conditions. So close to so many homes and businesses, the potential for death and destruction was very real.”
Mr Elsbury congratulated Parks Victoria and the Melbourne Fire Brigade on their efforts controlling the fires in Brimbank Park.
“Due to the excellent preparatory work of Parks Victoria in establishing fire breaks earlier in the season, the fire was contained and no homes or lives were lost.”
