An inner-Melbourne business erupted into a fireball in an alleged arson attack in January 2025. -PR HANDOUT
An accused arsonist has been charged over a firebombing that destroyed a dessert bar and left his alleged accomplice with fatal burns.
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Detectives released video of the attack on Thursday, which shows the moment the business on Melbourne's Chapel Street erupted into a fireball after two men allegedly poured fuel inside and set it alight early on January 15, 2025.
The pair fled the scene in an awaiting orange Holden Commodore, police said, with one of the men suffering serious burns.
Emergency services were called to a home in Fitzroy about an hour later to help the 52-year-old St Albans man, who was hospitalised for five months before dying in June.
"The injuries this man sustained and the prolonged suffering he endured were nothing short of catastrophic. This is an incredibly sad outcome for his family," Detective Inspector Chris Murray said in a statement.
"Let me be very clear: those people who are paying others an absolute pittance to light these fires have zero concern for their safety. They do not care one single bit. Your life is worth more than a couple of hundred dollars."
Police arrested a 44-year-old Fitzroy man on Thursday and charged him with a string of offences including arson causing death and reckless conduct endangering life.
He will appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon.
Detectives have also released a digital composite image of a man believed to have been driving the Commodore on the night of the incident.
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