- Published:
- Tuesday 15 October 2024 at 8:29 am
At 3.52PM, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) responded to an incident at Altona shopping centre after multiple callers to Triple Zero (000) reported a fire in a store.
Crews arrived on scene within five minutes to discover a large amount of smoke within the store and immediately called for additional resources.
With visibility low due to the activation of the Fire Protection Sprinkler System and high smoke volume, firefighters donned breathing apparatus and worked to locate the seat of the blaze in several racks of clothing within the store.
Over 200 people were evacuated from the shopping centre without any reports of injury.
Store staff confirmed all employees and customers had evacuated the store safely. Ambulance Victoria was on scene to assist.
In total, 35 firefighters and 8 appliances attended the blaze.
The fire was deemed under control at 4:19pm with the shopping centre sustaining smoke and water damage.
The centre will remain closed while firefighters continue firefighting operations.
A Community Warning was issued for the local area.
The incident has been determined to be suspicious and will be investigated by Victoria Police.
Updated