Residents have been rescued after a suspicious fire caused panic at a Victorian residential care facility.
Residents were found coughing and some had to be rescued from second storey balconies after the fire broke out at the 30-unit Balwyn residential care facility about 10pm Sunday.
Fire Rescue Victoria said multiple panicked residents of the Mangan Street location called triple-000 with some residents claiming they could not get out of their apartments due to the smoke.
Attending firefighters discovered a fire in a unit on the first floor of the assisted living facility and immediately called for additional help.
Victoria Police and the Department of Human Services were also on scene to help residents.
Firefighters evacuated all 30 units and rescued a total of 14 residents. The fire was under control about an hour and a half later and all residents of the facility were accounted for.
One resident was treated for smoke inhalation by Ambulance Victoria paramedics and one was taken to hospital with chest pains.
A Victoria Police spokesperson told Herald Sun that Detectives are treating the fire as suspicious and the circumstances surrounding the blaze are under investigation.
This follows a fire that broke out at a Melbourne retirement village in July where a resident died from the blaze.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online here.
