Victoria police say a fire that occurred at a luxury car dealership late Tuesday night is being investigated as suspicious.
A car was lit ablaze around midnight at the Mercedes-Benz dealership in the 2500-block of Government Street.
Firefighters rushed to the scene, noting that explosions could be heard coming from the vehicle.
“The compressed gas cylinders for all the airbags and struts could be heard exploding upon arrival and during the battle as they were exposed to the heat,” wrote the Victoria Firefighters union on social media.
In addition to the burnt vehicle, one other car sustained heat damage from the fire.
On Friday evening, VicPD confirmed the fire was suspicious, though the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Tuesday night’s fire occurred in the same area where three other suspicious fires were recently lit.
The first suspicious fire occurred on June 16 at Ricky’s restaurant along Douglas Street and Burnside Road, the second fire occurred on June 23 at a car rental business in the 2500-block of Government Street, and the third suspicious fire occurred on July 2 at an unoccupied heritage home that was undergoing renovations, also in the 2500-block of Government Street.
On Wednesday, after the fire occurred at the Mercedes-Benz dealership, nearby business owner Rob Stephen said he was concerned about the string of arsons.
Stephen owns a vintage electronic refurbishment store just steps away from the suspicious fires.
“I can’t believe it’s happening so often and so close to my business,” he said Wednesday.
“I don’t really have enough insurance. There’s a lot of valuable things that we couldn’t replace here because there’s a lot of vintage items that you can’t replace.”
Police say no one was injured in any of the fires, but each one caused “significant” damage.
VicPD has also not linked the fires to one another, but says investigations are ongoing.
Anyone with information on any of the fires is asked to call Victoria police at 250-995-7654 extension 1.
With files from CHEK News’ Kori Sidaway.
Adam Chan
