PRESTON: On Sunday, November 17 at 8:38 AM, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) was called to a fire at Cash Converters on High Street, Preston, following a triple zero call of a shop’s roof on fire.
Firefighters from Preston and Bundoora arrived within four minutes to find the top floor of the unoccupied double-storey Cash Converters fully alight.
Being early on Sunday morning, the store was closed at the time of the fire.
“The Cash Converters store was damaged by fire. The store is temporarily closed.
“We will let customers know if their items [pawned goods for loans] have been affected,” a spokesperson for Cash Converters said.
The incident was declared under control at 10:43 AM.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
On Thursday, November 21, Cash Converters updated customers, such as those with ‘pawned goods on loan’ that: “We still do not have access to the building as it is not safe to do so … “
“We are working hard with authorities to regain access … as soon as we know more, likely on Friday,” a Cash Converters spokesperson said.
UPDATE 30/11/2024 4:15 PM:
It is understood, according to a Cash Converters employee of the Glenroy store that all items ‘on loan’ (known in Australia as ‘on the hock’) were destroyed.
VicNews understands that a list of customers with goods ‘on loan’ at Cash Converters’s Preston store is being compiled and customers will be contacted next week.
This article was amended at 11:24 AM on November 21 and November 30, as new information from Cash Converters was provided.
