Heavenly Queen Taoist Temple, Footscray, Melbourne
A fire has devastated a South-East Melbourne Buddhist temple on Sunday night, leaving members of the local Buddhist community heartbroken.
Over 80 firefighters arrived at the Bright Moon Buddhist Temple in Springvale after the alarm went off at around 8pm, and crews confirmed the blaze was under control by 10:35pm.
The fire caused immense damage to the temple, and the cause of the incident remains unknown.
Fire Rescue Victoria Assistant Chief Fire Officer Paul Foster said, “We haven’t been able to fully check the whole building due to the structural instability of the building, so that’s something we will be looking at later on, but by all accounts no-one was in the building.”
“The building is severely damaged. The back walls are in danger of collapse so it’s going to be a rather large clean-up job.”
Roughly a dozen townhouses nearby were also evacuated as a precaution.
Vinh Ly, President of the Bright Moon Buddhist Society said he was he was heartbroken when he saw the damage.
“I can’t sleep last night. All night no sleep, say [to myself] why, why why?” Ly said.
Ly also said the temple was home to around 600 urns containing ashes of people who had been cremated in the community.
Greater Dandenong councillor Sean O’Reilly, who attended the opening ceremony of the temple back in 2014, said it was of great significance and importance to the local Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian communities.
“This temple was a beacon in that community for Buddhists and anyone that wanted to have some quiet time to meditate,” O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly also said that, while the temple itself had been gutted by the blaze, other building nearby did not appear to be damaged.
No members of the public or firefighter were injured during the blaze.
