Man arrested after suspicious fire at Melbourne's Caulfield Racecourse

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A man has been arrested after a series of fires in Melbourne’s east, including one that gutted a historic grandstand at Caulfield Racecourse. Dozens of firefighters managed to stop the blaze from spreading, but not before it caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

Transcript

00:00A piece of Melbourne's racing history, swallowed by flames.

00:08Thick smoke billows from the Caulfield Racecourse, engulfing the historic Norman Robinson Grandstand

00:14just after 6am.

00:16Around 70 firefighters battled the blaze, stopping it from spreading to neighbouring

00:21stands.

00:22Really good work from the initial crews, they worked really hard, aggressive attack.

00:26But the timber grandstand is gutted, so is the 1876 bar on level 2, named after the first

00:33year of racing at Caulfield, now reduced to a mangled mess of smashed glass, melted plastic

00:39and scorched timber.

00:41Historic building and there's been some damage there, but it could have been a lot worse.

00:45No horses or members of the public were injured in the blaze, but a firefighter was treated

00:50for a cut hand.

00:51As fire crews wrapped up, police set up, establishing a crime scene after the fire

00:56was deemed suspicious.

00:58Just hours later, they had a man in custody, being questioned over several fires lit in

01:03the Caulfield area throughout the day.

01:06Detectives used security vision from here at the racecourse and surrounding residents

01:11to close in on their suspect.

01:13At this stage I can confirm that there's no links to the racing industry at all.

01:19This was the only building damaged.

01:21It's a heritage used to stand, it's a very old stand and a unique stand and one of the

01:25favourite stands for all of our members, so we're gutted as a club.

01:29It's played host to crowds of racing fans for decades and it was set to cater for a

01:34race meeting tomorrow.

01:36That's been moved to Mornington.

01:38Instead of punters packing the stands, engineers will assess the damage, operators vowing the

01:43historic stand will have a grand future.

01:46We will rebuild it as good, if not better, than what it was.

01:51For more information visit www.fema.gov

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