UPDATE 8am: Detective Sergeant Steve Walker of the Ararat Crime Investigation Unit confirmed police are treating the fire as suspicious.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“It is suspicious, It is a vacant house and it shouldn’t just catch fire like that,” he said.
“At the moment, we are still in the process of organising arson chemists to come up from Melbourne, so we do not have a lot of information on the specifics of it just yet.’
With the house adjoining a property that was destroyed in late October, police are not ruling out a link between the two incidents but does not think people should be worried about a firebud.
“The houses were derelict houses that were being used by squatters and drug users, we know that for sure because we visited them on occasions,” he said.
“When people are under the influence of drugs and alcohol, they do some silly things and this might be one of those times.
“We do not know it is an arsonist or firebug, there may be a link between the two fires but we do not think people should be worried about future housefires happening.”
EARLIER: A second house in Ararat in just over two months has been destroyed following a housefire in Tuson Street on Wednesday night.
Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after midnight with the house already engulfed in flames.
The fire was brought under control with firefighters leaving the scene around 2am.
It is believed nobody was inside the house at the time.