A man has been arrested after allegedly being caught on CCTV footage starting a fire that caused major damage to the heritage-listed grandstand at Caulfield racecourse.
A blaze ripped through the grandstand at the track, in eastern Melbourne, just before 6.20am on Tuesday.
An investigation into the origin of the fire was launched by Victoria Police soon after it was brought ‘under control’ at about 7am.
A 51-year-old man was arrested at Mordialloc railway station in the city’s south-east about 1.45pm, following reports of several grassfires in the area.
CCTV footage from inside the Norman Robinson Grandstand showed the man allegedly dragging a wheelie bin to an upper level before adding extra paper and setting it alight, according to reports.
Police will allege the man allegedly started the fire in a section of the stand with timber decking, which allowed it to spread quickly.
The fire resulted in extensive damage to the grandstand’s hospitality areas – but it would have been worse if not for a ‘state of the art’ sprinkler system.
Melbourne Racing Club chairman John Kanga said the heritage grandstand will not need to be demolished but will require significant repairs.
‘I’m not a builder but from what I’ve seen this morning the damage will be in the millions,’ Mr Kanga said.
While staff and members are ‘gutted’ by the damage to the stand, a number of precious artworks managed to escape the blaze.
Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer Dennis Smith said firefighters worked quickly to control the blaze as it threatened to spread across the timber grandstand.
‘Being such an old building, there’s definitely a lot of potential for that to extend and be quite a significant fire, but really good work from the initial crews,’ Mr Smith said.
‘We had approximately 17 fire trucks and resources on scene and I think it was over 70 firefighters on scene, so they’ve all worked pretty hard.’
Mr Smith confirmed there were no injuries to horses or staff but one firefighter was treated in hospital for a cut hand.
The fire came just a day prior to a twilight race meet on the new Caulfield Heath track at the racecourse.
But the MRC announced on Tuesday that the meeting would be moved to Mornington Racecourse.
‘Whilst the racing surface was not impacted, building surveyors, health officials and investigators are currently inspecting the venue,’ the statement reads.
‘Accordingly, the MRC believed it was in the best interests of all parties to make the call now to transfer tomorrow’s race meeting to avoid any further disruptions for participants and patrons.’
Concerns are still being held for the availability of the course in the lead up to one of its busiest periods as it hosts the Blue Diamond Stakes, CF Orr Stakes and Oakleigh Plate in February.