Northland Shopping Centre is evacuated AGAIN after fire erupts inside a busy store – just hours after a car smashed into the building

By MATT JONES FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 02:29 BST, 19 June 2025 | Updated: 03:08 BST, 19 June 2025

A shopping centre has been evacuated after a fire broke out in a department store less than 24 hours after a vehicle smashed into the building during a terrifying rampage. 

Customers were seen fleeing Northland Shopping Centre, in Melbourne north-western suburbs, after smoke was seen billowing out of Myer on Thursday morning. 

A Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia an automatic alarm at the Myer store went off at 10.34am and one fire truck was currently on the scene.

Fire crews found a small fire had sparked in an electrical light. 

The fire comes just hours after a man allegedly drove a stolen Toyota Landcruiser into the crowded shopping centre – then kept driving through the mall – just after 4pm on Wednesday.

The driver was allegedly trying to evade police. No one was struck by the SUV and there were no reported injuries. 

The fire was the latest in a string of incidents at the centre, which was plunged into lockdown in May following an alleged fight between teens armed with machetes.

Northlands Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s north was evacuated on Thursday morning (pictured, smoke coming from Myer)

It comes after a Toyota Landcruiser drove through the shopping centre on Wednesday afternoon (pictured) 

‘What the hell is going on with Northland at the moment,’ one shopper commented on a post about the fire on social media. 

‘Is that shopping centre cursed or something?’ another said. 

Tanya Nava, who works at the mall’s Kmart store, witnessed the car drive through the complex on Wednesday.

‘Everyone was just in a panic,’ she said. 

‘A young girl runs up to me and she goes “Oh, there’s a car in the shopping centre”. And we just all went “oh my god”, and then everyone was just freaking out.’

Police later found the car on Beavers Road in Northcote about an hour later.

A 27-year-old man was arrested at a home at 8.30am on Thursday. 

The man is being interviewed by detectives and no charges have been laid.

In May, the shopping centre was forced into lockdown after a violent brawl broke out bertween rival gang members armed with machetes 

Police will allege the Landcruiser was stolen from Ivanhoe East on June 2, using an ‘electronic key reprogramming tool’ seized during Thursday’s arrest.

Shoppers were reassured security would be increased following the break-in. 

‘We continue to work with the Victorian Police, with increased security and police presence in centre over the coming days,’ a spokesperson for the centre said. 

‘We understand the incident that took place at our centre was distressing, and we want to reassure our community that we are taking this matter seriously.’

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Northland Shopping Centre is evacuated AGAIN after fire erupts inside a busy store – just hours after a car smashed into the building

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