North Adelaide: Man arrested after series of arson attacks
A man has been arrested following a series of arson attacks on medical buildings in North Adelaide this week. A doctor’s surgery was this morning damaged in a blaze, and the AMA building was torched on Wednesday. Pic: 9 News
Police & Courts
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A man has been arrested following a series of arson attacks in North Adelaide this week, including a blaze at the Australian Medical Association building that caused up to $2 million damage, and another attack on a doctor’s surgery today.
This morning police were called to the blaze at the corner of Walter Place and Archer St – a doctor’s surgery – just before 1.40am.
Police say an arsonist set fire to a brush fence.
Flames caused external damage to a medical business before MFS crews extinguished the fire.
Police believe an arsonist is to blame for a brush fence fire, that spread to a doctor’s surgery in North Adelaide. They’re now investigating if the attack is linked to a blaze just days ago at AMA house, less than 200m away. @9NewsAdel pic.twitter.com/ME7TAiTSiM
— Ella Duffy (@ellakduffy) May 7, 2020
Detectives deemed the fire suspicious, and linked it to an arson attack on Wednesday morning at the Australian Medical Association building on Ward St.
A 52-year-old North Adelaide man was arrested and is expected to be charged later today with arson.
Up to $2 million of damage was caused to the AMA building after a bin was set alight in the underground carpark just after 1.30am on Wednesday.
Flames spread through the airconditioning unit and caused significant damage to the ground and first floors.
It took nearly 40 firefighters two hours to fully extinguish the fire.
AMA SA President Dr Chris Moy said a dermatology clinic on the ground floor was completely destroyed.
The building has 13 sites leased to medical practitioners and other health workers, including AMA SA.
Dr Moy said the attack was “disappointing and frustrating”.
“Our thoughts are with the medical practitioners and others who lease these suites,” he said in a statement.
“We understand that the fire will have a distressing impact on their capacity to help their patients in what are already extremely challenging times for everyone.”
An MFS spokeswoman confirmed the estimated damage bill is between $1 million and $2 million.
AMA SA chief executive Dr Samantha Mead saidher staff were working from home, due to coronavirus restrictions since late March.
A suspicious blaze has caused up to two million dollars damage to Adelaide’s AMA headquarters. An arsonist set alight garbage bins underneath the building, the fire spreading to an air-conditioning vent and travelling upstairs. @9NewsAdel pic.twitter.com/YUP7CoP5Bm
— Olivia Grace-Curran (@livgracecurran) May 5, 2020
“There will be no disruption to our business and the work we do to improve the health and safety of our community,” Dr Mead said.
“If there’s a silver lining it’s that no one was harmed as a result of this.”
She said AMA SA will support other tenants in how to manage patient consultations as they recover from the blaze.