A suspicious fire ripped through a block of units in Altona on Saturday, destroying two apartments.
Firefighters arrived at the McBain Street units about 10.30pm – just four minutes after they were called – following reports that people may be trapped inside.
Two of the units in the block of four were gutted and have been declared structurally unsound, while a third has been damaged.
Gerry Carton was out watching footy with son Garry when a friend drove past his home and saw the building on fire. They rushed back to get Mr Carton’s dog.
Mr Carton said there were often problems at the units and as recently as Thursday he found someone sleeping in a doorway.
“There was a firebombing a couple of years ago outside No. 2’s garage,” he said.
MFB Commander Roger Chitty on Sunday morning said the female occupant of the unit where the blaze started had not been located.
However, he said no one had been inside at the time of the fire.
“At this stage we haven’t been able to obtain a cause of the fire, but we are making it a suspicious fire,” he said. “There were reports of missing people so we did an extensive search while the firefighting was being conducted, but we haven’t found anyone at the scene.”
He said the prompt response of firefighters had saved neighbouring houses.
And there was another silver lining.
“We had reports of a dog that was inside and trapped,” Commander Chitty said.
“Fortunately, we did find the dog well and alive and he’s now with the owner and happy.”
