Fire-bombed vape store blocks Mary Street footpath

Demolition has begun on two Gympie businesses destroyed in an apparent firebombing, as police continue to investigate the incident and neighbouring businesses wonder if it was a targeted attack and will happen again.

The clean-up began this week after a midnight blaze left the shop fronts of two Mary Street businesses in ruins three months ago.

A crime scene was declared and a police investigation is still underway following the apparent firebombing of Ozzy Tobacconist and Vapes near the Memorial Park gates, which spread to Energy Chiro on Sunday, April 9, 2023.

The fire took six hours to put out and CCTV footage revealed two balaclava-clad people breaking into the building, one carrying a jerry can. As they exit one appears to throw at light back into the store and it bursts into flames.

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Other Mary Street business owners and shoppers have since said they were fed up with the “derelict” and “eyesore” ruins – the charred wooden structure and fallen-in, corrugated iron roof frame that blocks pedestrian traffic.

Works have just started on cleaning up the asbestos at the site, and are set to continue until the end of August, a Gympie Regional Council spokesperson said this week.

An exclusion zone around the site has been extended to the kerbside, and wire fences have been wrapped tightly in plastic sheets, covered in “Danger” asbestos signs and tape.

The exclusion zone extends the length of Memorial Lane, between Memorial Park and Mary St.

In April 2023, a store on the corner of Mary St and Memorial Lane burned down. Three months later, business owners, still having to live with a closed-off footpath and are wondering when it would get cleaned up. Picture: Christine Schindler

The laneway, which memorialises local fallen soldiers, was what saved the Queenslander Hotel from going up in flames the night of the fire, pub manager Bec Peckman said.

“You can see from the outside the wall warped from the heat,” she said.

Stock from the tobacconist turned into ad hoc fireworks as lighters and gas bulbs exploded into flames, some of which went through their windows, she said.

Queenslander pub manager Bec Peckman said the closure of Memorial Lane and its toilets meant more people used the pub’s toilets and the pub as a thoroughfare to Reef Street. Picture: Christine Schindler

Apart from using the pub as a thoroughfare, what most bothered Ms Peckman now was watching people navigate the footpath.

She often saw a visually-impaired man have trouble crossing the road, and she was not sure how big a threat the asbestos was.

“At first, council wouldn’t let us put our outdoor seating out the front because of that,” she said.

A few weeks later she asked the council if it was safe to put the chairs back, but said she never got a response.

Knowing it was a popular area for seating, she eventually put the tables and chairs out again anyway.

Gympie council director of community sustainability Adrian Burns said the structures were made safe with encapsulation of all asbestos debris in April 2023 awaiting removal.

Across the road, Elders’ principal agent Ian Partington said he wondered if the firebombing was a targeted attack.

The torched tobacconist had reopened on the other side of Mary Street beside Elders mere days after the fire.

“There’s four vape stores on this street, is it going to happen again?” Mr Partington said.

Elders principal Ian Partington is concerned about security and whether there might be more arson attempts on the streets. He, along with his staff would like to see more security cameras put in on Mary Street. Picture: Christine Schindler

No one has been charged over the incident, and investigations remain ongoing, police said. They continue to urge people to make reports through Crime Stoppers.

Twiga Books and Toyworld staff echoed Mr Partington’s concerns around the security of the street and were embarrassed the burnt-out building was there, blocking the footpath.

“Gympie people deserve better,” Adele Coombs from Twiga Books said.

Adele Coombs and Kerry Johnston of Twiga Books and Toyworld are concerned about when the burnt out building will be fixed and whether it affects the security of Mary Street. Picture: Christine Schindler

Other businesses hoped it would be fixed soon, echoing similar concerns for their elderly customers having to make long detours to get to them.

Mr Burns said demolition was scheduled to begin later this week as the building approvals had been completed.

The demolitions will be done by a private certifier and the building owners, he said.

“A contractor has been engaged to conduct the demolition (including asbestos removal). The works will take approximately one month to be completed (by end of August) and the Memorial Lane will be closed to the public for the duration of this work, including the public toilets,” he said.

Gympie CBD division councillor Bruce Devereaux said it looked derelict and brought the whole of Mary St down after businesses had struggled with a year of rebuilding and recovering from the floods.

“It should be fixed and I don’t understand why it is so hard,” he said.

Ozzy vape store staff declined to comment and the owners were unavailable.