A SUSPECTED arsonist responsible for a massive 1400-hectare grass fire at Little River earlier this year remains on the loose.
As the state closes its worst bushfire season since Black Saturday, Wyndham detectives have concluded their investigation into the blaze that threatened hundreds of homes on January 14.
The fire began on Bulban Road and took 40 CFA crews and four aircraft, including the aircrane Elvis, about five hours to control.
CLICK HERE for our picture gallery of the fire.
SEE: Little River fire engulfs 350 hectares.
Detective Senior Constable Steven Oakley said police had been hunting the driver of a single-cab ute with a dark green canopy, seen in the area before the fire broke out.
A police spokeswoman confirmed on Monday the investigation had been unsuccessful.
“Police pursued a number of avenues of inquiry, however, no charges have been laid,” she said.
During the fast-running fire, residents in Balliang East, Exford, Parwan, Mount Cottrell, Eynesbury, Mambourin, Quandong and Melton South were put on a ‘watch and act’ alert.
Werribee CFA captain Michael Wells said seven large grass fires in the Wyndham area over summer had come as a shock to emergency services. “We haven’t had significant grass fires in Werribee for several years. But this time we’ve had the rain, the growth, and the big thing to remind people is that while essentially we’re a suburb of Melbourne, there’s still the urban-rural interface.”
Werribee CFA attended a total of 228 summer callouts. They included 86 non-structure fires such as grass and scrub fires, 30 house or factory blazes, 36 road accidents, nine calls to wash away debris, 57 fire alarm calls, one hazardous material incident, seven car fires, five gas leaks and six calls for children locked in cars.
Victorian Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said there had been 4400 fires reported during the season, blackening more than 180,000 hectares. He said 24 of the fires had been classed as significant. He commended crews for keeping property losses to a minimum, but said it was a tragedy that the fire season claimed the lives of two firefighters.
