Mareeba Fire on Hort St destroys two buildings, damages third

Police have given an update on their investigation into a fire which destroyed two Mareeba businesses overnight as fellow business owners tell of their shock and sadness. WATCH VIDEO

UPDATE: Police say a fire which tore through two Mareeba businesses overnight Thursday is not being treated as suspicious.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services attended the blaze, which destroyed neighbouring businesses Floral Magic and Hort St Cafe at about midnight.

Far North Detective acting inspector Anthony Law said police and fire investigators were still working to determine the cause of the blaze.

“The building was contained, a crime scene was declared and currently the scientific section from Cairns is conducting an analysis of the building,” he said.

“Preliminary investigations appear that it is non-suspicious.”

Acting insp. Law said the owners of the businesses were devastated.

“Mareeba police have asked for anyone that was in the Mareeba CBD around 12.30am this morning to come forward,” he said.

“The examination will be concluded at some time in the near future but in regard to a cause of fire it’s still undetermined.

“Those businesses were extensively damaged, which is extremely unfortunate for the owners.”

UPDATE: Mareeba business owners have been left shocked and saddened by the destruction of two businesses in an overnight blaze.

Floral Magic and Hort St Cafe were both destroyed when the blaze broke out about midnight, while a third business also suffered significant damage.

Mark Gallo lives above his Hort St business, Mareeba Real Estate, and called triple-0 about 12.30am.

“I was asleep and heard something that sounded like heavy water hitting the roof iron,” he said.

“I opened the curtain and got a shock.

“It’s just obliterated, and the buildings were pretty old. The owners would be devastated.”

“I rang triple-0 but someone had called ahead of me.”

Allan Sharpe of Sharpe Psychology, whose business is next to what was Floral Magic, said police advised him at 2am they needed to enter his premises to check walls.

“The fire hadn’t come across to us, but they needed to check,” he said.

“It is absolutely devastating.”

Nearby hair salon owner Emma-Vecchio-Ruggera said she received a call from police in the early hours of the morning.

“We have cameras and checked them and saw that our salon was all right,” she said.

A Queensland Fire and Emergency services spokeswoman said four crews responded to the fire on Hort St, between Byrnes St and Walsh St, just before 1am.

Two shops were well alight upon arrival of the crews and the fire was extinguished by 1.40am.

She said fire investigators would examine the site today to determine its cause.

The fire comes just a few weeks after a group of girls was charged over a blaze that gutted a Mareeba mechanic workshop.

EARLIER: Another midnight inferno has torn through multiple buildings at Mareeba, just weeks after a nearby mechanic workshop was burnt to the ground.

Just before 1am, Mareeba police officers were conducting patrols around Hort St when they noticed the fire, and then alerted Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

A Queensland Police spokesman said officers were now working with fire investigators to determine the cause and whether it was deliberately lit.

“The fire completely destroyed two premises and caused significant damage to a third,” he said.

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A Queensland Fire and Emergency services spokeswoman said four crews responded to the fire on Hort St, between Byrnes St and Walsh St, just before 1am.

Two shops were well alight upon arrival of the crews and the fire was extinguished by 1.40am.

She said fire investigators would examine the site today to determine its cause.

Queensland Ambulance crews were on standby while the fire was extinguished and reported no patients requiring treatment.

It comes after a Mareeba business burnt to the ground after a midnight inferno tore through a building and left nothing but a pile of black rubble on the ground on last month.

On June 29, Performance Motors on Byrnes St was completely destroyed by fire with a damage bill of about $2 million estimated by devastated business owners Kevin and Lucy Dunn.

Three girls, aged just 12, and a 14-year-old girl were subsequently charged with arson.

Firefighters were called to the scene and arrived by 12.41am on June 29 to find the blaze fully involved.

It took more than an hour and a half to bring the fire under control, but by that time the mechanical workshop was destroyed.

Fire crews managed to save the business’s showroom and nobody was hurt in the flames.

Originally published as Mareeba Fire on Hort St destroys two buildings, damages third