Police declare crime scene after fire destroys Mary St shops

Police are appealing for witnesses as they claim two men robbed and then torched a shop in the centre of Gympie, before fleeing at speed down the Bruce Hwy in a car bearing stolen plates.

Police are hunting two men who robbed a tobacco shop at midnight before torching it with a jerry can of fuel they brought with them, destroying two shops in the heart of Gympie and damaging a third.

Emergency responders, including almost a dozen firefighting crews, were called to Mary St shortly after midnight when police patrolling the area found the fire inside the shop.

The flames rapidly spread to nearby businesses including a chiropractor’s office and a fast food restaurant, police said, causing “a series of explosions” inside the building and cutting power to the area.

The tobacco shop and the chiropractor’s office were gutted in the blaze.

Two shops were destroyed in the blaze, which was found by police patrolling the area shortly after midnight Sunday, April 9, 2023.

Fireys were able to keep the blaze from seriously damaging the Bellygood restaurant after gaining access to the roof, a QFES spokeswoman said.

She said fireys had the fire contained by 2am but by 6.45am Monday the blaze had not yet been completely extinguished.

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Residents up to one kilometre away reported hearing explosions from the fire.

No-one was injured.

Fireys had the blaze contained by 2am, and were able to keep a third nearby shop from being destroyed.

Gympie CIB officer in charge Detective sergeant Rob Lowry said Monday afternoon that the offenders went to the shop shortly after midnight “armed with some jemmy bars and a jerry can full of fuel”.

They drove their vehicle past the shop’s entry at 12.20am, and then broke in 10 minutes later.

Detective Lowry said they stole a number of items from the shop, including an undisclosed amount of cash in a register tray.

Upon leaving “they’ve then set fire to the building, presumably using the fuel from the jerry can”.

The tobacco shop and a nearby chiropractor’s offices were gutted by the blaze.

He said officers were monitoring the council’s CCTV cameras along Mary St when they were alerted to the crime.

One of the offenders was wearing a balaclava, and the other seemed to have donned a blue surgical mask.

They parked their vehicle near the shop before walking the rest of the way.

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A fire has gutted several shops at Mary St, Gympie, early in the morning of Monday April 10, 2023.

When police arrived in the main street the men fled in a silver Toyota sedan bearing stolen number plates.

Detective Lowry said police were looking into “how that number plate came into their possession”.

A short police chase ensued through Gympie’s CBD before the offenders sped away south along the Bruce Hwy.

The men remain at large.

Police are appealing for public assistance, including for anyone who has seen the car “which looks very similar to a 2010 model Camry or Aurion”.

The gutted buildings have been cordoned off by authorities and an investigation is now underway, with police declaring the area a crime scene.

Sunday night’s incident follows another one at Tewantin, in which a tobacco store and several other shops were damaged on Good Friday, April 7.

There is no suggestion of a link between these two incidents.

Detective Lowry said investigators’ “priority” was the Gympie incident but they would “keep an open mind” in relation to other offences.

One which was of interest to police, he said, was an incident at the same Gympie shop in January 2023.

Residents up to 1km away from the fire said the heard the explosions as the shops went up in flames.

Detective Lowry said the earlier crime “was very similar in nature”, with a man behind the shop seen to have thrown “some sort of combustible liquid or some incendiary device at the back door”.

The fire was extinguished by witnesses before any significant damage was done.

“We’re also investigating whether or not there is a link between the two offences,” Mr Lowry said.

He said the offenders were “taller than average height, slim” and appeared to be aged between their late teens and their 30s.

Police are seeking to identify the driver of a white 2010 Aurion sedan seen in the area at the time, saying the person may be able to help with their inquiries.

Emergency crews and police were still at the scene as of 8am Monday.