Fire believed to be deliberately lit causes $1m damage to funeral chapel at cemetery

Hundreds of funerals have been thrown into chaos after a chapel was destroyed by fire in this city’s largest cemetery.

The arson squad is investigating a fire that destroyed a chapel at Perth’s largest cemetery, causing disruption to hundreds of funerals scheduled to take place there over the coming weeks.

Emergency services were called to a blaze at the Norfolk Chapel at Karrakatta Cemetery, about 10km west of Perth, at 11.30pm on Monday.

Fire and Emergency Services extinguished the fire, which caused about $1m damage to the chapel.

Metropolitan Cemeteries Board chief executive officer Kathleen Oliver said on 6PR they were working with funeral directors across Perth to move funerals that were scheduled to take place at the chapel.

Fire has caused about $1m damage to Norfolk Chapel at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth.

Ms Oliver said it would take about two weeks to repair the damage at Norfolk Chapel.

“The chapel has been there for quite a few decades,” she said.

“It’s one of the most popular chapels we have, and it’s one of our largest capacity chapels.

“The roof has been badly damaged by smoke and may need to be completely replaced as well as the condolence lounge.

“When families have a service, they can opt to have a wake and some food at the service; it is that space where the fire was set, and the smoke has come into the chapel itself and damaged the chapel.”

The chapel is expected to take weeks to repair, disrupting hundreds of funerals that were scheduled to take place there.

Ms Oliver said they provided CCTV footage to police to help them with their investigation and would leave it up to them to find out what happened and what the person’s motives were.

“It’s just extremely disappointing to have this happen to such an important chapel for the community,” she said.

Ms Oliver said on ABC Perth that a person broke into the condolence lounge adjacent to the chapel and sprayed an accelerant around the room before setting it alight.

A woman in her 20s has been taken into custody and is assisting the arson squad with their inquiries.

“The cause of the fire is being treated as suspicious and arson squad officers will attend the cemetery today to conduct a fire scene investigation,” a police spokesperson said.

Police urge anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area or has dashcam footage of the area from 11pm to midnight to contact Crime Stoppers.

Originally published as Fire believed to be deliberately lit causes $1m damage to funeral chapel at cemetery