General News
10 July, 2024
'Unsettling': second arson attack on Ararat cigarette store
Arson attack on Ararat store unsettles community
The Ararat community awoke on Saturday morning to learn that a fire had destroyed a business overnight in an suspected arson attack.
It was the second such attack on an Ararat tobacco store in recent months; in a separate incident emergency crews were called to an Ararat Barkly Street business on fire in May this year.
Emergency services were called to the Woolworths complex in Ararat in the early morning of Saturday, July 6, to find a cigarette business premises engulfed in flames.
An Ararat police spokesperson said the weekend incident concerned police and the community.
"It is particularly unsettling for a small town," the spokesperson said.
"We see these types of incidents on television and think this happens in the city or elsewhere, but when it happens on our doorstep, it is unsettling for the wider community.
"Fortunately, the fire was discovered early, the contents burned quickly, and some of the adjoining shops contained flammable material, too, which could have spread very easily.
"In particular, it was concerning that it was so close to residential premises. No one was injured in the blaze."
Business owners and community members were reluctant to comment publicly on the incident.
Detectives from Taskforce Lunar said they were investigating two arson attacks on tobacco stores in the state's west over the weekend, the one in Ararat and another in Cohuna.
An arson chemist attended the Ararat scene on Saturday to investigate.
"A car was driven into a King George Street business in Cohuna before it was set alight," a spokesperson said.
Nobody was inside the premises, but the building was completely destroyed, and neighbouring businesses sustained minor damage during the incident.
The investigations into both incidents remain ongoing.
On Monday,July 8, detectives from Taskforce Lunar seized a further three tonnes of illicit tobacco worth over six million dollars, over $170,000 cash, and eleven firearms in a joint operation with the Australian Taxation Office as part of their investigations into illicit tobacco in Victoria.
With assistance from the ATO and Western Region Crime Squad, Goldfields Crime Investigation Unit, and uniform police from Horsham, Stawell, and Highway Patrol, five commonwealth search warrants were executed at large rural properties in the state's west.
Three were executed in Landsborough, and two in Barkly on Thursday, July 4.
No illicit tobacco was located at the western Victorian warrants, but each property had evidence of a recent harvest of the plant.
At a Johnson Gully Road address in Barkly, 20,000 illicit cigarettes and a small amount of cash was located.
Search warrants were conducted across the state's west, with four men charged with various drug and firearms offenses.
Anyone who witnessed either incident, with dash cam/CCTV footage or information, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Confidential reports can be made to Crimestoppers.