Coolaroo squatter home destroyed in suspicious blaze

Dramatic footage shows the moment a massive blaze tore through a home in Melbourne’s north, with flames “gushing out of the windows”.

Dramatic footage has captured the moment a massive blaze gutted a home in Melbourne’s north.

Authorities were alerted to the inferno at a home on Thorpdale Ave in Coolaroo shortly before 9pm on Saturday.

With the fire threatening neighbouring homes, 11 fire trucks rushed to the scene, bringing the blaze under control.

Heavy smoke blanketed nearby properties as a result of the blaze.

The home, which is just a few doors down from St Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College, is believed to be abandoned.

A massive blaze tore through a Coolaroo home on Saturday night.

A Fire Rescue Victoria spokesman confirmed authorities were treating the blaze as suspicious.

“Crews arrived on scene within six minutes to find the 10m x 15m single storey, brick

and tile house issuing flames and smoke,” he said.

“Wearing breathing apparatuses, firefighters conducted an aggressive external

attack to extinguish the fire, bringing the incident under control within 20 minutes,

containing the fire to the dwelling.

“The cause of the fire was deemed suspicious, and the scene was handed over to

Victoria Police.”

The spokesman noted that neighbours had reported “recent squatter activity”.

“However the property was found vacant after thorough search of the building,” he said.

“No injuries were reported.”

The shock footage was captured by local resident, Matt, who raced over after seeing clouds of smoke above his property.

“I saw the smoke and came out the front and saw all the flames” he said.

The local said the house had been abandoned for a number of years.

“Windows had been smashed in for a long time before the fire, there’s a temporary fence outside the house and grass was really high up,” he said.

Another nearby resident, Charbel, said he was worried about asbestos in the air while the fire was burning.

“I knew the house would have asbestos because of how old it is. I had my mum with me and said we can’t stay here. So even though we just drove past I wanted to leave as soon as possible,” he said.

“We saw huge flames gushing out of the windows.”

Asbestos bags were seen lined up against the neighbouring property’s fence, filled with leftover scraps from the blaze.