Suspicious Fire at Fourth Melbourne Church

By Alana Schetzer
The Age
April 3, 2015

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/suspicious-fire-at-fourth-melbourne-church-20150403-1mee3f.html

A church has gone up in flames on Good Friday, the fourth church fire this week.

Firefighters were called just after 2.30pm after at least one witness reported smoke coming from the building in Doncaster East.

The fire on Doncaster Road was contained to a small part of the building and extinguished. The cause has not been determined.

It is the fourth church fire that has occurred in Melbourne since Monday. St James Church in Brighton, St Mary's in St Kilda East and St Mary's Catholic Church in Dandenong have all experienced blazes over the past five days.

All three are connected to notorious paedophiles, including priests Kevin O'Donnell and Ronald Dennis Pickering. Police said they were treating the fires as suspicious but would not comment on whether the blazes could be linked.

Investigators want to speak to any witnesses or anyone with any information, urging them to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.