The historic house in Albion where a suspicious fire began on Wednesday. Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Alesha Capone
A SUSPICIOUS fire destroyed part of a heritage-listed Albion house last Thursday, the second suspect blaze at the property within a week.
Twenty firefighters attended the scene, at the vacant Talmage St home known as the Stuart McKay House, around 2am.
There have been three fires at the property during the past month, including one on Friday 16 August at around 1.20am.
MFB Commander Bob Undy said police arson chemists examined ashes of the latest fire to determine the cause of the blaze.
“We called them (police) automatically because of the previous fires and evidence of a break-in, there was shuttering up around the house and fences, and a strong smell of flammable liquid, which was why we called police,” he said.
Brimbank City Council’s general manager Stephen Sully said it was fortunate the fire did not cause more damage to the house, a two-storey Georgian revival weatherboard built around 1937 by the McKay family, which owned the Sunshine Harvester Works.
He said the home was now owned by the Sunshine City Club, which applied for permission to demolish the house in 2008.
After the council refused, the club went to VCAT but withdrew before the hearing.
Mr Sully said Sunshine City Club “has now been summonsed to appear in the Magistrates’ Court on September 2 for non-compliance of a building order last October requiring it to secure and make the property safe in the wake of the other two fires”.
The council has also issued an emergency order for the removal of all roof tiles and their replacement by a tarpaulin.
“We’re trying to stop the building from further deterioration as it’s such a valuable asset, both architecturally and culturally, for Albion and Brimbank as a whole,” he said.
Detective Senior Constable Gerry Fabbro from Brimbank CIU said the historic home was often frequented by squatters, and that the 16 August fire also began in suspicious circumstances. Anyone with information about the fire or who saw anything suspicious in the area can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
