One of Melbourne’s main city thoroughfares has been closed after a fire tore through a nightclub on Chapel Street overnight. Around 50 firefighters were called to the scene just before 2am. Police are investigating the blaze as suspicious, having closed the street and established a crime scene.
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TVTranscript
00:00Well, you can see just how significant the emergency response here is on Chapel Street,
00:07hours after the fire was brought under control, and still firefighters here having to put
00:12out spot fires, having to use heavy machinery to pull up the ceiling, the roof of the nightclub
00:18to get in and attack the hotspots that are still burning from what was a really dramatic
00:24blaze here in the early hours of the morning.
00:27Firefighters say their station is just around the corner, and they were here within minutes
00:30of that first call coming through, just before 2am this morning, and even then the building
00:36was fully engulfed in flames.
00:38You can see that the nightclub is just completely destroyed, thankfully the fire has been contained
00:43and hasn't spread to neighbouring buildings.
00:48The focus now shifting towards what exactly caused the blaze, it is being treated as suspicious.
00:53Victoria Police also on the scene, with an arson chemist set to assess the scene this
00:58morning.
00:59That's prompted major road clodges here as the emergency service continues right through
01:03the morning peak, and potentially throughout more of the day as well, through a very suspicious
01:08fire that's done significant damage, but thankfully no injuries reported.