Fire at iconic Chapel Street’s Jam Factory precinct

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Dozens of firefighters are working to extinguish an early morning fire at a section of Melbourne’s Jam Factory precinct being demolished for redevelopment.

Police said the fire started in a construction site near the intersection of Chapel and Garden streets in South Yarra about 1.40am on Friday.

A fire truck at the Jam Factory on Friday morning.

Several people called triple zero after seeing smoke emanating from the site.

“No one was on site during the incident. The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined,” police said.

A crime scene has been established and police and Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) are investigating how the fire started.

FRV senior station officer David May said firefighters had the flames under control for several hours with no current disruption to traffic or public transport.

Firefighters at the site. Fire Rescue Victoria and police are investigating how the fire started.

But he said the fire was proving difficult to put out entirely.

“[Three-quarters] of the building has been brought down [by demolition works], but there was a fire in the old landing where you used to go up the stairs to the candy bar and the ticket office,” May told ABC Radio Melbourne.

“The fire is actually in the subfloor, it’s been extremely hard to get into it due to its construction.

“Right now the demolition crew that are bringing the building down anyway are helping us access hotspots in that area so we can put the fire out.”

Demolition works at the Jam Factory site in Chapel Street, South Yarra in March.

Rich-lister property developer Tim Gurner owns the site in partnership with ASX-listed company Qualitas.

The Australian Financial Review has previously reported on the group’s plans to transform the space – featuring four residential towers, two hotels, a new cinema and 15,000 square metres of office space – while preserving the heritage facade.

Gurner has previously told this masthead his development will be central to the “rebirth” of Chapel Street.

The heritage-listed site has been used as a brewery, to produce jam and for other industrial purposes since the 1850s, and at one point served as the headquarters for major food manufacturers the Australian Jam Company (AJC) and Henry Jones IXL.

More to come

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