POLICE are investigating a fire that destroyed part of the horse stables at the Wangaratta Showgrounds.
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The blaze started about 6am on Thursday and caused part of the metal structure to collapse.
Several large events have been planned for the venue in coming weeks, including an AFL pre-season game between St Kilda and North Melbourne next Saturday.
The fire won’t affect the game, but Wangaratta Show Society secretary Bev Tiffin said the incident was concerning.
“It just makes you feel uncomfortable to think there are people who have been around there, doing that sort of thing during the night,” she said.
“There is a lot of vandalism of different items here.
“A lot of the time it’s just people cutting wires and things like that.”
CFA operations officer Terry Heafield said it had taken firefighters 20 minutes to bring the fire under control.
“It’s being treated as suspicious,” he said.
The stables are used during the Wangaratta Show.