A week on from a suspicious fire that destroyed Officeworks at Underwood, police are still trying to solve the mystery of who might have lit it and why.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services say the blaze started while staff and customers were still at the store at about 8.40pm last Tuesday night.
An Officeworks spokesperson said everyone was evacuated and nobody was hurt.
“A fire occurred at our Underwood store on Tuesday evening,” a company statement said.
“All team members and customers were safely evacuated from the store. Emergency procedures were followed and the safety of our team, customers and our community remain our number one priority.”
Firefighters battled the blaze for hours, with the remaining debris still smouldering 18 hours later.
On Wednesday afternoon, there was a heavy stench of smoke still in the air.
Police say the fire looked to have been deliberately lit, and have called for any witnesses or drivers with dashcams in the area at that time to contact them.
Despite a heavy police presence at the site Tuesday night and throughout last week, they’re none the wiser.
“The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated by the relevant authorities,” the Officeworks spokesperson said.
“We would like to thank the emergency services crews who have been working to contain and extinguish the fire and ensured the safety of all involved and we congratulate our team members for their actions, we’re providing them with the necessary support.”
The owners of ZONE Underwood, Clarence Property said they are committed to getting the site back up and running as soon as possible.
“We are working hard on the reinstallation of the power to the centre and stores and hope to have further updates early next week, we will continue to provide updates as they become available,” they said in a statement.
“Our priority remains the health and safety of our customers, staff and the community, we appreciate everyone’s patience whilst we work very hard to get the centre and our stores back up and trading.”
Officeworks said they will continue to work with the authorities and assess the damage, with the “next steps in due course.”
