News / Crime
Arsonists torch Brunswick East Scout hall
The building was damaged internally but is likely to be salvageable
Mark Phillips
A BRUNSWICK Scout group is reeling after its hall suffered extensive internal damage from what is being treated as a deliberate arson attack early on Friday morning.
The home of the 9th Brunswick Scouts in Donald Street, next to Allard Park in Brunswick East, has been closed indefinitely forcing Scouts, Cubs, Rovers and Joeys to scramble for alternative venues for their weekly meetings.
It is the second fire on the site after the current hall was built to replace an original wooden hall that was destroyed by a fire in the 1980s.
Group leader John Paterson said the building was severely burnt inside, but appeared to have escaped significant structural damage.
Already he has received offers of help from other neighbouring Scout groups to lend their halls for the dozens of children, teenagers and young adults who attend 9th Brunswick so they can continue their weekly activities.
“We’re down but we’re not out,” he said.
Get more stories like this delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our weekly newsletter.
The fire broke out soon after 4am on Friday and was quickly contained to the main part of the hall, but not before damaging walls, the ceiling, some furniture, including a piano, and flags and other artefacts from the group’s 90-year history.
The internal ceiling and walls will require replacement.
Paterson said the kitchen, toilets, office and storage room appeared to have avoided serious damage apart from smoke, heat and water but this will need to be properly assessed by insurers.
Equipment belonging to the Bunk Puppets troupe, which rents space at the hall, was being stored elsewhere at the time of the blaze.
“We’ve probably lost some of our history but we’ve still got the building and it’s now a matter of working out how long it will take before we can use it again,” Paterson said.
He said grainy security camera footage from a business across the road showed two people breaking into the building at about 4am and leaving it soon afterwards. It was suspected they had taken gas barbecue cylinders from the storage area to ignite the blaze.
Investigators from the arson squad and detectives attended the fire scene on Friday.
The Scout group owns the building, which is on council land.
Nothing appeared to have been stolen from the hall, Paterson said.
“They were there to torch the place down and watch it go up in flames,” he said. “They’ve just piled everything up and set it on fire.
“We can’t tell if anything has been nicked and unless you want camping gear, there’s nothing of value there anyway.”
The group is one of the oldest in Victoria and is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Paterson said Scouts had been designing a logo for the anniversary based on the club’s nickname of the Brunswick Bunyips, but he would suggest they changed that to a phoenix, the mythical bird that emerged from the ashes of a fire.
He said the fire would not prevent Scouts, Cubs, Joeys and Rovers from continuing activities after other local Scout groups had offered use of their buildings. The group was also exploring whether it could use the North Brunswick Football Club rooms and the Basilicata Bocce Club hall at Allard Park.
In a statement to Brunswick Voice, Victoria Police said the exact circumstances surrounding the fire are yet to be established and investigations remain ongoing.
14 rescued from apartment blaze
In a separate incident on Monday, 14 people were evacuated from a burning apartment building in Brunswick West.
Fire crews used a ladder to rescue the residents of a two-storey apartment complex in Murray Street about 11.30am on Monday.
The fire began in an apartment on the second level of the 12 dwelling building.
Fire crews first rescued a 75-year-old man who was trapped on a second floor balcony. He was treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire was deemed under control in 20 minutes, the cause is under investigation.
Support independent local journalism
We are an independent hyperlocal news organisation owned and run by the people in your community. With your support, we can continue to produce unique and valuable local journalism for Brunswick and the inner north of Melbourne.
