December 30th, 2024‘Suspicious’ car fire in Ballarat suburb: police investigate

Police are keen to hear from anyone who may have information relating to a recent car fire that happened in the Ballarat suburb of Cardigan a few days before Christmas.

The vehicle had been found on fire near Blind Creek Road about 1.40am on Friday, December 20, just metres from the railway tracks near the Dowling Road intersection.

A CFA spokesperson had reported that firefighters had been alerted to the burning vehicle when callers to 000 reported the blaze.

The CFA spokesperson said firefighters had arrived at the scene to find the car alight and about five metres from the train line and the rail authority was notified

The fire had been brught under control at 1.53am with the incident classed as suspicious and the matter handed to Victoria Police.

It comes as newly released Crime Statistics Agency statistics indicate criminal incidents in Ballarat had risen 16.6 per cent in the year ending September 2024.

The latest crime statistics also revealed that the number of motor vehicle thefts in the regional city of Ballarat were at their highest levels in at least a decade and that they had increased by 22 per cent in the past year.

Incidents had increased from 431 in 2023 to 526 in 2024 with the rise in vehicle thefts also reflected state-wide. Police have reported that the number of offences in Victoria were at the highest levels since 2003