Arabic version: متاجر ملبورن تراقب مشتريات الوقود بعد هجمات بالقنابل الحارقة

According to ABC News, Victorian retail stores are actively monitoring purchases of jerry cans and fuel, with suspicious transactions reported to police as investigators respond to continuing firebombings across Melbourne.

Police are treating an overnight fire at Etuners Motorsport in Springvale, in Melbourne’s south-east, as a targeted arson attack. Detective Inspector Chris Murray, who leads the Arson and Explosives Squad, said an alarm alerted the owner shortly before midnight. The owner called a friend for help, and the premises were fully engulfed when they arrived. The fire took about an hour to suppress and substantially damaged the luxury and sports car workshop.

Police are seeking three people: a driver and two masked offenders wearing hoodies who allegedly lit the fire. Murray said the same business was the subject of a drive-by shooting last week. Detectives will examine the workshop’s recent client list for possible links to the incidents.

Murray said Victoria Police recently met retail-sector representatives to form an alliance focused on monitoring jerry can and fuel sales. He said the arrangement was “paying great dividends” and that police had increased overt and covert patrols across the state. He also said police had made hundreds of arrests in recent months following numerous firebombings.

The detective inspector renewed a warning to young people recruited by organised crime rings to carry out attacks. He said two individuals were on life support at the Alfred hospital, 20 offenders had suffered serious injuries in arson incidents, and one person had died. Murray said people who take on such jobs can find it difficult to leave, with families and individuals having been threatened.