Marine Parade fire: Iconic palm trees along St Kilda foreshore go up in flames, with locals fearing arson

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Lauren Price
The Nightly
palm trees along the St Kilda promenade have been engulfed in flames
palm trees along the St Kilda promenade have been engulfed in flames Credit: @SpicyChillPro/X formerly Twitter

Iconic palm trees that line Melbourne’s St Kilda promenade have gone up in flames.

Locals fear that arson is to blame after multiple trees along Marine Parade became engulfed in flames just after 7pm on Sunday.

The flames captured the attention of onlookers as firefighters and emergency services rushed to the scene.

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Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze in under 20 minutes, The Herald Sun reported.

One witness told the Herald Sun that it was an “inferno”.

“The flames were really big and it drew a crowd. Everyone was kind of interested in it but then realised it was actually very close to the Marina, where all the boats are, which could have been bad”.

Police and fire crews were on the scene on Sunday night probing the cause of the blaze.

Many of the glorious palm trees along the St Kilda foreshore are decades old with the oldest planted in 1930.

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