Melbourne's fight over the illicit tobacco trade has been running for several years, and it has produced a grimly familiar kind of news story. In July, the ABC's 7.30 reported that Detective Inspector Chris Murray of the Arson and Explosives Squad put the number of tobacco-related arsons at 193. Two of this year's attacks show the role a vehicle often plays.
Mentone, 30 June
At about 4.10am on Tuesday 30 June, fire crews were called to a shopping strip on Lower Dandenong Road in Mentone. Police believe unknown offenders drove a vehicle into a shop there and fled, and the shop then caught fire. A resident described it to the ABC as a cigarette shop.
The shop was gutted. Live power lines caught fire and came down, and a ruptured gas line also caught alight. The fire was under control by about 4.28am. Nobody was inside and no injuries were reported, but a resident told the ABC two neighbouring shops also appeared to be damaged. Police treated the fire as suspicious.
Melton, 3 September
Shortly before 3am on Thursday 3 September, CCTV captured a ute reversing into The Boss Tobacconist on Alexander Street in Melton, the ABC reported. Two men got out carrying what appeared to be jerry cans. A fireball then engulfed both of them.
A 23-year-old man suffered critical burns and was taken to the Alfred hospital. Police said the second man was also burnt and had fled. Fire crews arrived within four minutes and had the fire under control at about 3.12am. Detective Inspector Chris Murray said police were looking for a silver ute that may have been travelling with the white one, and that they intended to hold whoever commissioned the attack to account.
The vehicle opens the shop
The two attacks differ in detail, but the opening move was the same. Whoever was responsible didn't break a lock or a window. They used a vehicle to open the front of the building, and then came the fuel.
That order matters because it shows where a physical barrier fits. A vehicle driven into a shopfront creates a large opening in seconds, which an attacker can then throw fuel or an incendiary through. Without the vehicle, the same attacker has to break through on foot: slower, louder, and with far more time standing in front of a camera.
The Melton footage also shows the reversing tactic that turns up again and again in these reports. Backing in keeps the front of the vehicle and its airbags out of the impact, and leaves the driver facing the way out.
The neighbours carry the risk too
The detail from Mentone that should worry any trader in a shopping strip is the damage next door. Fire doesn't respect tenancy lines. Shared roofs, ceiling spaces, gas and power connections all run along a strip, and a fire started in one shop can quickly involve the businesses either side. We've written about the July fire in Richmond, where a tobacco store ramming affected around ten businesses.
That means the question of whether a shopfront can be rammed isn't only for the tobacconist. It's for the pharmacy, the cafe and the optometrist next door, and for the landlord who owns the building.
What a barrier can and can't do
We haven't seen either of these premises and aren't suggesting what would have happened with a barrier in place. Speaking generally:
- Steel bollards in front of a shopfront, properly footed and closely spaced, stop a car or ute reaching the glass or roller door. That removes the vehicle as the quick way in.
- They don't stop arson on foot. Someone can still break a window and throw something through it. Bollards make that attack slower and more exposed, not impossible.
- They don't address why a shop is targeted. That's a matter for police and for the wider response to organised crime and the illicit tobacco trade.
- Placement depends on land. On a strip where the footpath is council land, bollards need council approval. Where the shop has a private forecourt or setback, the owner or landlord usually controls that space.
For strip owners and tenants
If there's a tobacconist in your strip, the conversation worth having is a shared one: tenants, the landlord and, where the footpath is involved, the council. A row of bollards in front of a whole strip protects every shopfront in it, and costs less per business than each tenant acting alone.
Both of these attacks happened before dawn, on shops that were closed and empty. The people put at risk were the attackers themselves, the firefighters who responded, and the businesses next door. A barrier at the kerb won't end the tobacco war. It can make a shop much harder to open with a vehicle at 3am.