Huge blaze in Dandenong South destroys factory building

A factory has been destroyed by an early morning blaze, with witnesses reporting loud explosions coming from inside the building.

A factory on the corner of Hammond and Elliott Roads in Dandenong South destroyed in a suspicious fire overnight. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

An early-morning blaze has destroyed a factory in Melbourne’s south east.

Police were called to the building, a cabinet-making business on Hammond Road in Dandenong South, about 1.45am after explosions were heard and a passing driver noticed the flames.

Shortly after emergency services arrived on scene, there was another explosion, with large-scale damage done to the building, including to the business next to it.

“Shortly after our crews arrived, there was actually a reasonably large explosion which caused significant structural damage to the building,” Fire Rescue Victoria commander Travis Harris said.

“We were very lucky that nobody was actually inside the building at that point in time.”

The fire started after 1am on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

The building was destroyed in the blaze, which took hours to put out. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Commander Harris said the explosion had blown through part of the wall that separated the business from its neighbour, causing damage to the business next door as well.

Miraculously, nobody was injured in the blaze, but the factory has been destroyed.

Police said in a statement the cause of the fire remains unclear, and a crime scene has been set up at the factory.

“It is expected detectives and a fire investigator will attend the scene this morning,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or with information or CCTV is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppers.com.au.

Originally published as Huge blaze in Dandenong South destroys factory building