A 52-year-old man has been charged with three counts of murder over a fatal fire in an abandoned Footscray factory on Wednesday night.
Senior Constable Alistair Parsons said the man was arrested in Swanston Street in the CBD on Thursday afternoon.
He was charged early Friday morning with three counts of murder, three counts of arson causing death, and arson.
The man appeared at an out of session’s court hearing early Friday morning and was remanded to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court later on Friday.
Emergency services were called the blaze at the rear of the former Kinnears ropeworks on Ballarat Road about 11.30pm Wednesday following reports of a fire and explosions.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade firefighters took forty minutes to control the fire and made the grisly discovery of the three bodies inside a room at the rear of the factory.
Arson chemists and police investigators combed through the scene on Thursday morning in a bid to piece together events leading up to the tragic fire.
The blaze came just one day after Maribyrnong Council considered a proposal by developers to begin work on a major residential redevelopment of the former rope works, closed for business since 2002.
A planning application has been lodged for the $63 million first stage of the Kinnears site redevelopment, to include 208 dwellings in 15, 12 and 8 storey towers.
Site owner R & F Estate Pty Ltd said in a statement it was saddened and distressed about the loss of life at its Footscray property on Wednesday night.
“R & F has had 24-hour security on the site. The company had received preliminary advice that there had been no squatters in the main buildings on the site, but a small outbuilding had been forced open from the street.”
