Mickleham convenience store firebombed

The GrabnGo Cafe and Convenience store was gutted by flames overnight in a blaze feared linked to the state’s gangland tobacco wars.

A Mickleham convenience store has been gutted by flames after a blaze overnight that police are treating as suspicious.

Taskforce Lunar – the police unit assigned to probe Victoria’s tobacco wars — is investigating the circumstances surrounding the suspicious fire.

The GrabnGo Cafe & Convenience store on Enderby Drive was engulfed by flames after a car smashed into the front of the shop about 1.20am on Sunday.

Someone then set the store alight.

The scene of a fire bombing at a convenience store in Mickleham. Picture: David Crosling

Despite emergency services managing to contain the blaze, much of the two-storey building was ravaged by fire that left it almost completely gutted.

No one was inside the property at the time of the incident.

The building remained cordoned off with police tape mid Sunday morning with a heavy police presence monitoring the scene as detectives began investigations.

The car believed to have rammed the building remained inside. Picture: David Crosling

A local resident told the Herald Sun he woke up to what sounded like a “loud explosion”.

The Mickleham man, who did not want to be named, said the noise was so loud he initially thought a car had crashed into his own property, rather than the nearby convenience store.

Many neighbours also expressed their shock at the damage to the GrabnGo Cafe & Convenience store, several stopping by the scene to view the torched remains.

As firefighters continued to clean up the Enderby Drive property late on Sunday morning, the intensity of the blaze became evident with two neighbouring businesses sustaining property damage from the engulfing flames.

A medical centre and kindergarten were both caught up in the crossfire, the Annandale Family Medical Centre on Enderby Drive posting to Facebook on Sunday informing customers of the damage.

“There has been a fire at GrabnGo Cafe which has unfortunately made its way to our clinic,” the post read.

“There will be no access to Annadale Family Medical Centre until we know the extent of the damage, and phone lines have been affected with the electricity out.

All Sunday appointments have been cancelled, it is an unfortunate situation so please bare with us whilst we try to sort things out.”

There have been at least 109 suspicious fires reported in Victoria since March last year.

Police are urging anyone who witnessed the incident or has CCTV footage to contact Crime Stoppers.

Originally published as Mickleham convenience store firebombed