Demolition of fire-ravaged Morley Market begins as community rallies around impacted businesses
Equipment begins clearing the Morley Market site. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
In short:
Morley Market was destroyed by fire last month, with authorities treating the blaze as non-suspicious.
Demolition works have begun and it's expected to take up to three weeks to clear the site.
What's next?
Community fundraising activities have been organised in a bid to support affected businesses.
Demolition works have begun at the Morley Market in Perth's north-eastern suburbs, a month after small businesses were destroyed in a fire at the complex.
Emergency services responded to the blaze just after midnight on Wednesday, September 3.
It took roughly 70 firefighters several hours to extinguish the fire.
All businesses at the shopping centre were damaged beyond repair. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
Police initially treated the blaze as deliberate but later confirmed it was "non-suspicious", with no criminality detected.
On Wednesday morning, several excavators and workers in high-visibility attire were seen beginning demolition works at the site.
City of Bayswater councillor Josh Eveson said the fire was "a very sad time" and works were on track.
"From what I understand, demolition has started on time … [it will take] two to three days and then there will be quite a bit of clean-up, there's quite a lot of debris," he said.
The clearing is set to take several days. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
He asked people to keep their distance from the site or watch from afar if they chose to.
"It's got a lot of sentimental value for people," he said.
'Early days' for site's future
Mr Eveson said the council had endorsed plans to redevelop the area, including the car park owned by the City of Bayswater, but had not held any talks with the owners of the Morley Market.
"The city has done some master planning on the car park that we're standing [in] at the moment, however there's private ownership of the Morley Markets and I don't think there's been any discussions," he said.
City of Bayswater Councillor Josh Eveson says plans to redevelop the area have a ways to go. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
"It's still early days."
He said he expected it would take two to three weeks to clear the site, and several fundraising initiatives have been set up to help the small businesses impacted by the fire.
The demolition is expected to take up to three days. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
Children's entertainment was the focus of an event at the neighbouring Coventry Village — a site owned by a man who had previously worked as a butcher at the Morley Market, according to Mr Eveson.
In the nearby suburb of Bayswater this Sunday, the popular Big Don's Smoked Meats is holding a fundraiser cookout that is hoping to raise $100,000 for small businesses devastated by the fire.
In an Instagram story, Big Don’s said they had so far met $71,000 of their $100,000 fundraising target.
Fundraising is underway to help the small businesses impacted by the fire at the market. (ABC News: Kenith Png)