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Two teenage boys will face arson charges following a massive blaze in Melbourne’s CBD.
Emergency services rushed to the fire at an abandoned warehouse on Clarendon St between Crown Casino and the CityLink in Southbank about 4pm Thursday.
No one was inside the premises at the time, but a thick plume of smoke was seen for kilometres, and the building sustained “extensive damage”.
Firefighters arrived to find one building engulfed in flames before it quickly spread to a neighbouring factory.
Two teenagers, aged 13 and 15, were arrested at Southern Cross Station on Friday afternoon, with police at the time saying they were not looking for anyone else at the time.
On Saturday, Victoria Police revealed the two boys had been released pending further enquiries, and are expected to be charged with arson.
“Police also expect to charge the teens with a series of thefts, robberies, and an attempted armed robbery in Melbourne’s CBD in recent weeks,” a spokesperson said.
Video of the incident shows the factory’s roof engulfed in flames at the most intense point of the blaze.
A group of 35 firefighters battled the blaze for about 50 minutes, with some crews donning breathing apparatus to begin an “internal attack” on the fire.
It’s unclear how the fire started, but it was immediately being treated as suspicious by Victoria Police.
The fire caused traffic chaos as Clarendon St was closed in both directions, as well as the Line 12 tram that runs through South Melbourne….
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