Suspicious blaze destroys Lygon Street restaurant
A fire that ripped through several businesses in Melbourne’s famous Lygon Street claimed a Lebanese restaurant.
And the owner said he had received threats.
Emergency services rushed to the famous restaurant zone when there was an explosion there this week at 1am.
The fire resulted in $2 million worth of damage to a Japanese barbecue restaurant and a Middle Eastern shisha bar.
Min Zaman, the owner of the the Middle Eastern restaurant destroyed in the blaze, said he had received some threats over the last few weeks and had moved a “couple of shops up” after having issues with some people at a previous location.
“I decided to move and we have only been open for six weeks at the new location,” Mr Zaman told the Herald Sun.
He said he had received calls threatening to burn his premises.
“I had a voicemail message that said ‘listen you bugger, I will come and I will burn your place down’,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I went to the police but it’s too late now. I’ve lost everything.”
He said the call came in at 1am alerting him to the shop alarms.
About firefighters spent an hour bringing the blaze under control.
“I left work at 12.30, by 1am I had security calling me saying the censors in the kitchen and lounge area had gone off,” he told the newspaper.
“I rushed back to the shop to see it alight.”
Police believe it is a case of arson.
Fire service communications controller Trevor Woodward said the fire began in a two-storey building.
“Explosions were heard as flames ripped through the top floor and spread to a reception centre next door,” Mr Woodward told the Herald Sun.
“A wall collapsed into a laneway at the height of the fire, raising concerns over the structural integrity of the entire building, housing several businesses.”
by Leon Gettler, October 4th 2017
