Top cop’s chilling response to question about fatal fire in Red Cliffs, Victoria

A police inspector has delivered a chilling response when asked about the cause of a fatal blaze in country Victoria.

Police have confirmed that a man killed in a “suspicious” fire in country Victoria on Sunday night could be the victim of murder.

Police were called to a home on Indi Ave in the town of Red Cliffs, near Mildura, at about 11.15pm to find a small residence “fully ablaze”, according to police.

They said they found a 52-year-old man dead inside the home once the fire was brought under control.

Victoria Police Detective Inspector Chris Murray said police were treating the fire as suspicious, while they also confirmed a 36-year-old Red Cliffs man was in custody and assisting police.

A man could have been murdered in a ‘suspicious’ fire in country Victoria, police say. Picture: 7 News.

“Yes, 100 per cent murder,” Inspector Murray said when he was asked by a reporter if that’s what police were investigating.

He said arson chemists and major crime investigators were at the scene and urged any members of the public to come forward if they had any information.

“The scene is a complex scene – it has been extensively damaged,” Inspector Murray said.

He said “one individual” was assisting police with their inquiries and the investigation was “very early” in its progression.

The home was ‘extensively damaged’. Picture: 7 News

“We’re confident we’ll be able to bring this investigation to a successful conclusion,” he said.

Inspector Murray said it was too early to state definitively that the two men were known to one another, but police were “100 hundred per cent confident it was arson.”

“I’m not able to go into specific details at this early stage of the investigation, but we’re very confident this was a deliberate act,” he said.

Inspector Murray said “early indications” suggested it was known a person was inside.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.