Old wires, new fires: One in four house fires starts behind the walls

Old wires, new fires: One in four house fires starts behind the walls

A quiet suburb, a chilly night, a heater left on. By morning, a garage in Williams Landing is reduced to blackened brick and twisted metal, and firefighters are hauling away propane tanks to prevent a second explosion. The story is familiar across Victoria: ordinary homes becoming sudden firegrounds—especially when the temperature drops. Despite popular perception, summer is not when most fires strike. Winter is deadlier. Over the past decade, m…