By Luke Voogt
A blaze that burnt through more than 1200 hectares of grassland near Little River likely resulted from machinery, police have revealed.
Investigators received reports the fire broke out on Edgars Road as a result of machinery, which they have since seized for forensic examination.
Wyndham Crime Investigation Unit detectives have since interviewed a 58-year-old Little River man following the incident.
They released the man pending further enquiries and were “confident there would be no further incidents involving his machinery”, a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
There are no other people involved, the spokesperson added.
“Police would like to thank members of the community who reported the incident which resulted in the fire being contained,” the spokesperson said.
“No one was injured as a result of the fire and the investigation remains ongoing.”
Originally authorities believed the fire had three ignition points and that it was deliberately-lit.
Investigators were now treating the fire as accidental, a police spokesperson said.
The fires caused Vic Emergency to issue evacuation warnings for Little River, Mambourin, Manor and other nearby towns.
About 50 fire trucks and seven aircraft brought the fire under control about 8pm on Friday, after it burnt through grassland for about eight hours.
No one died in the fire, which CFA incident controller Geoff McGill described as a “great win”.
“The early notification and calls for extra resources early in the stage of the fire was actually a really good outcome,” Mr McGill told ABC news on Saturday.
“Victoria Police and CFA yesterday sent investigators out nice and early to make sure that we’ve secured the area, we’ve declared it a crime scene and the investigation is going on now.”
The fire destroyed a shed but no homes, Mr McGill said.
Police were still investigating the fire and urged anyone with information to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
