THE Victoria Police, with the assistance of the CFA, is attempting to find the culprits of multiple fires in Stawell across the New Year period.
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CFA District 16 operations manager Ian Morley said, "it has been a busy week" with the abundance of suspicious fires reported in Stawell.
"We have had 14 fires or incidents reported to the fire brigade in the Stawell area since New Year's Eve with most of the reports being small grass fires," he said.
"It appears that the majority of those are suspicious in origin."
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More recently, on the morning of January 4, the Stawell CFA responded to a structure fire three times at the same residence.
"There has been major damage done to the structure," Mr Morley said.
"The incidents in question are possibly suspect and related, Police and CFA fire investigators are attending the venue."
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Mr Morley said the CFA would continue to assist the police to find who was responsible for the fires.
"The culprits will be found and the full weight of the legal system will be brought to bear," he said.
"We will leave no stone unturned in assisting the police in finding those responsible. We will most likely review all of the incidents in question again.
"There is absolutely no excuse for this stupidity, wasting precious resources and time of emergency services and putting life and property at risk within the community during this time of heightened fire danger.
The Ararat Criminal Investigation Unit hopes a public member can come forward with information or dashcam footage from any of the following suspicious incidents:
- December 31 8:08pm Victoria Street, Stawell (Rubbish bin fire in the park)
- December 31 10:38pm fire in backyard - not suspicious
- December 31 11:20pm Concongella School Road, Concongella (small grass fire) - suspicious
- December 31 11:58pm Concongella School Road, Concongella (small grass fire) - suspicious
- January 1 2:20am Fischer Street/Scenic Road, Big Hill (grass fire) - suspicious
- January 1 2:55am Fischer Street/Scenic Road, Big Hill (grass fire) - suspicious
- January 1: 3:23pm Pickering Road, Stawell (grass fire) - suspicious
- January 1 4:05pm Pickering Road, Stawell (grass fire) - suspicious
- January 1 9:53pm Burrong Basin Road, Black Range (grass fire) - suspicious
- January 2,3,4 Patrick Street, Stawell (fire at residence, grass and shrub and structure) - suspicious
Call Ararat CIU on 5355 1500 or report anonymously on 1800 333 000.
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