A man who was living inside a Wendouree factory has been killed in a suspicious fire.
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Firefighters and paramedics arrived at the property on Villiers Drive around 6:30am on Tuesday to find the factory fully alight.
Country Fire Authority incident controller Malcolm Hayes said when emergency services arrived on the scene they found "two very distressed occupants" outside.
They told the CFA there was someone still inside the building.
The two people outside were assessed by paramedics and did not need further assistance.
A 39-year-old Ballarat man died at the scene.
"Factory fires are not unusual, it is unusual to have someone inside a building like this unfortunately," Mr Hayes said.
"Fire Rescue Victoria made entry and found a person trapped inside the building and removed them, but unfortunately they have passed away."
The 39-year-old appeared to be staying at the property, which Mr Hayes said was storing a variety of different items.
He believed the owners of the property were aware the man was living on site.
"Crews found the factory well alight and the building was totally destroyed in the fire," Mr Hayes said.
The fire was declared under control just after 8am.
Access to buildings on Villiers Drive will be limited as police investigations continue.
Police incident controller Senior Sergeant Stuart Gale said they expected the road to be blocked off for the majority of Tuesday.
He said they were working with people who needed to access other properties.
The Victoria Police Arson Squad and fire investigators are travelling from Melbourne to assess the scene.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.