Man confirmed dead after retirement village blaze

A man has been confirmed to have died in a fire that engulfed multiple homes in a retirement village north of Melbourne.

The fire at Kingsgate Village on Royal Parade in Kilmore, which broke out just after 6am on Wednesday, is being treated as suspicious.

There were initial reports that residents were trapped and the blaze had affected multiple properties. But later on Wednesday morning, only one man remained unaccounted for.

Shortly afterward, Victoria Police confirmed a 78-year-old resident had died.

“Emergency services were on scene quite quickly and managed to evacuate about 40 people from the area … but unfortunately there was one particular person who wasn’t able to get out of the unit itself,” Inspector Jayme Cutler said at Kilmore.

The man’s wife survived the blaze. Police said they were new residents at Kingsgate Village, and had been living there for only a few weeks.

“His wife’s obviously in a fair bit of shock,” Inspector Cutler said.

“It’s an awful experience for anybody to go through.”

The man’s body was yet to be recovered by early Wednesday afternoon.

About 20 Country Fire Authority units went to the village earlier on Wednesday, with the fire engulfing several buildings.

Most residents had evacuated by the time crews arrived.

Despite low visibility and heavy fog, the fire was brought under control just after 7am.

The deceased man lived in one of two units partially destroyed by the blaze. A further three units suffered heat damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Arson and explosives squad detectives and an arson chemist were to begin investigating after the site was declared safe about 11am.

Mitchell Shire Council has been assisting displaced residents, some of whom had suffered from smoke inhalation and shock, police said.