The Molotov cocktail that wasn’t: Behind WA Police’s about-face on Morley Markets blaze

1 week ago 3

WA Police have conceded they made a blunder on Wednesday when they declared a fire that gutted Morley Markets was deliberate, after the state’s top cop said officers “were on the hunt” for those responsible.

Hours later, WA Police clarified the cause of the blaze, which destroyed the 5000-square-metre building on Bishop and Progress streets at 12.30am, was not suspicious, with impacted business owners told the likely cause was an electrical fault.

Firefighters on scene at the Morley Markets.

“Following an extensive investigation, detectives from the Arson Squad have determined a fire at a shopping precinct in Morley to be non-suspicious,” a WA Police spokesperson said.

“No criminality has been detected. [Emergency services] investigators will continue to examine the scene to determine the cause of the fire.”

Police Minister Reece Whitby, during a press conference on Thursday, said investigators initially reviewing CCTV early on Wednesday morning mistook a car’s window reflection for a Molotov cocktail being thrown through a window.

“Our first responders are dealing with a lot of unknowns,” he said.

“I understand there was initially some very early viewing of some CCTV footage which needed further investigation but the inference that early investigators got was that it was suspicious, but then on further investigation of that vision they realised there was not an issue there.

“The issue was a reflection from a passing vehicle that threw light on the building, and initially that was thought to represent the flash of a Molotov cocktail.

“Look, investigators are human, they make a preliminary assumption of what they see, they do further investigation, they realised there was an explanation for that flash of light, it was a reflection of a car windscreen ... what they’re saying now is they don’t believe there are any suspicious circumstances.”

Earlier on Wednesday, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said he wouldn’t go into detail, but that CCTV had shown the fire was suspiciously lit.

The DFES incident controller also told reporters at the scene that morning that “we know it’s deliberate, and I can’t say anything more than that … the arson squad and WA Police force are investigating as we speak”.

Dozens of small businesses, mostly family-run, have been lost in the blaze, with many owners saying they were uninsured and had lost their livelihoods.

Peter Nguyen, from Bishop St Newsagency, posted to his businesses Instagram stating everything had been destroyed, before starting a GoFundMe page to “help support us in these hard times and to get our business back up on its feet”.

“The newsagency burned in a fire along with the whole of the Morley Market. We have been in business here for 20 years, and have lost everything in this disaster,” he wrote on the fundraising page.

“We don’t want Bishop St News to die, and I hope the community of Morley feels the same way. If you had any fond memories of our shop, please consider donating or sharing our story.”

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