Vic: Fire causes damage on millionaires' row

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2004
Vic: Fire causes damage on millionaires' row

By Cath McAloon

MELBOURNE, April 15 AAP - The multi-million dollar Melbourne mansion of one of transport
magnate Lindsay Fox's sons was severely damaged when fire ripped through the luxury residence
early today.

Andrew Fox's wife Fiona was feeding the couple's three-week-old baby about 4am (AEST)
when a neighbour alerted them to a blaze that had engulfed half their $7 million Toorak
home.

The couple and their five children escaped the inferno, but watched on hopelessly as
flames leapt through the first floor ceiling, causing about $4 million damage to their
stately Kooyong Road residence.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade investigator Rod East said firefighters were able to retrieve
some of the family's personal belongings, including photos and Mrs Fox's wedding rings,
from the rubble.

"Mrs Fox was holding up really well, but she just broke down when we brought out of
the ashes her three wedding rings at about 7am," Mr East said.

He said the Fox's had a neighbour - who alerted them to the blaze - to thank for their
lucky escape.

"Andrew Fox looked out the window to see who was ringing their bell at that hour of
the morning," Mr East said.

"When he looked down he saw flames coming out of the roof.

"He turned to his wife and said `We've got a fire, we've got to get the kids out'."

He said the couple and their newborn made their escape down a back staircase, collecting
their four other children, all aged under 11, from their downstairs bedrooms.

Fire investigators said an electrical fault in an air-conditioning motor was believed
to have sparked the blaze.

Andrew, a director of his father's Linfox Property Group, had recently moved his family
into the Kooyong Road estate which they were renovating.

The landmark home, in the city's most expensive suburb, sits on 3,780 square metres
and includes six-bedrooms, landscaped gardens, a tennis court and a swimming pool.

In the same neighbourhood as his father's $25 million Eulinya mansion on Irving Road,
Andrew Fox's home also features a sauna and self-contained guest house.

Robyn Parkes, who has lived in the exclusive riverside suburb for 34 years, said she
was woken by screaming about 4am.

"I could hear something that was alarming so I just went out on the balcony and I saw
this inferno through the top of the trees and I telephoned the fire brigade," Mrs Parkes
said.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman Trevor Woodward said crews faced a battle to contain
the blaze, with the enormity of the home preventing them from using standard aerial firefighting
equipment.

AAP clm/dk/jv/jlw/.

KEYWORD: FIRE NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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