TOBACCO WARS COME TO NORTH FITZROY
By Charlie Gill
On the morning of October 12th at 7am, Manali Purohit, head chef at a plant-based patisserie and cafe on St Georges Road named And Bodega, woke up to countless sympathetic messages on Instagram.
“It took me time to figure out what they were talking about, and then I saw images from news channels about the firebombing,” Manali told The Rotunda later that day. “By the time we were driving to the site, we knew that things were going to be really bad.”
After arriving, Manali’s husband and business partner Ash walked through their building to retrieve CCTV for the police. The wall was covered in soot, the roof had caved in, the pipes had burst and the flooded floor was strewn with cans from nitrogen bombs.
“It's a double brick wall, but still, the cans must have blown through and come to our side,” says Manali. “It’s shocking, the bombing element of firebombing.”
A bit after 3:30am that morning, arsonists had attacked the tobacco store just past Holden Street, causing nearby residents to flee their homes. Ken, a barista at local bakery Loafer, lives above the Growers Espresso cafe just two doors down.
“I was woken up by an explosion, but I thought it was a gunshot and went back to bed. The second explosion was a fire, and my whole room went red…I got up, got dressed, called triple zero and rushed out. My neighbours yelled at me “run!” and then we ran across the road. There was like a bunch of explosions happening, and it felt like an earthquake…I was just waiting for the fire department, like: ‘Oh my gosh, I don't want my house to burn down.’”
30 firefighters soon arrived to contain the blaze before it spread, but the dramatic scenes did not come as a surprise. Recently, masked assailants threw bricks through the tobacconist’s windows, captured by And Bodega’s CCTV camera and provided to police. Over the past few years the Tobacco Wars have swept through the city. Finally, they’ve arrived in North Fitzroy.
“The place next door was dodgy from the beginning,” says Manali. “But it just happened very quickly. We didn't really get a chance to think through what we need to do to be prepared.”
The tobacco store itself was totally destroyed (pictured). But while firebombings have almost become expected for Melbourne’s tobacco stores, the same can’t be said for vegan bakeries. And Bodega was featured in The Rotunda’s May edition and quickly made a mark after opening just three months ago.
“I don't know what we’ll do tomorrow or the day after. For me, it was my whole purpose and existence”.
“We were getting a lot of love and support from our neighbours and the community, especially on weekends we were very busy,” says Manali. “I don't know what we’ll do tomorrow or the day after. For me, it was my whole purpose and existence”.
A Facebook post in a community group incorrectly claimed that And Bodega’s insurers would not pay them out having been denied fire insurance after the tobacconist opened. This has happened to other businesses in Melbourne, but Manali says their contents insurance paid out $25,000. Still, this doesn’t cover the far greater sum they put into renovating the space, and things went from bad to worse when opportunistic thieves stole equipment and technology from the shop in the days after the fire.
At the Yarra City Council’s most recent meeting on October 14th, councillor and Nicholls Ward representative Ken Gomez asked CEO Sue Wilkinson whether there’s scope for council to discourage illegal tobacconists popping up in Yarra.
“Enforcement of illegal tobacco activities is not within council’s remit,” Wilkinson said. “We have no legislative powers in that regard. I can’t state more clearly: this is a criminal activity.”
It now looks like rebuilding the buildings could take around a year, meaning that Manali and Ash think their time at 340 St Georges Road is probably over. Instead, they plan on finding a takeaway window from which to serve their pastries and coffee, hoping to move back into a bigger space once they can afford it.
“North Fitzroy has been so supportive, coming up with all kinds of ideas to get us back on our feet. So we're just very, very grateful for the community.”
If you’d like to donate to Go Fund Me to support Manali and Ash, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-and-bodega-build-again
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