Firefighters have contained a fire that tore through the kitchen of Footscray’s Station Hotel on Monday, just days after a suspicious blaze destroyed a West Footscray apartment.
A Metropolitan Fire Brigade Spokeswoman said the fire broke out soon before noon while a chef was cooking at the hotel’s award-winning restaurant.
“It appears the chef was cooking at the time and the flue caught fire in the kitchen,” she said.
The chef, the only person in the popular hotel on Hyde Street at the time of the incident, escaped without injury.
Fire crews fighting with four appliances took about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control.
The kitchen of the hotel suffered heavy damage while the roof space and apartments above the kitchen sustained smoke damage.
The incident follows a blaze that destroyed an empty apartment in West Footscray on Friday night.
The unit was the middle of three unoccupied apartments in a development currently under construction on Barkly Street.
Firefighters were called to the incident at 11pm after neighbours reported seeing thick smoke issuing from the home and attempted to extinguish the fire using garden hoses.
Police were called to close Barkly Street as crews prevented the flames from spreading, protecting neighbouring homes and businesses.
A community warning advised local residents to close windows and turn off air conditioning due to the smell of smoke.
Ten appliances and several commander staff responded to the incident and the fire was deemed under control at 11.49pm.
The fire was deemed to be suspicious and the scene was handed over to Victoria Police for investigation.
