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26-05-2023
Bureau Report
SYDNEY: More than 100 firefighters from Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) were sent to tackle a major blaze in the Surry Hills area of Sydney, Australia.
Some of the walls of a multi-story building collapsed, with FRNSW stating that there were concerns the fire could spread to neighboring buildings.
Officials said that the inferno had a “10th alarm” status, the most severe type of fire.
A firefighter received a minor burn to his arm, but it is not yet known if there were any further injuries or any fatalities.
Explosions could be heard as the blaze engulfed the site. A huge fireball could be seen just moments before a major wall section exploded outwards, showering the street in bricks, concrete and other debris.
As the firefighting effort unfolded, helicopter footage showed fire crews spraying a building across the road, which appeared to be smoldering, and extinguishing patio furniture which had become engulfed in flames on another adjacent rooftop.
The building next door was also hit with debris during an initial collapse early in the afternoon.
Residents in surrounding buildings were evacuated as the fire spread.
Bystanders on the balcony of a nearby pub cheered as a cat was carried out in the arms of police and given to its owners, while other emotional residents were seen carrying dogs wrapped in blankets.
Ibtisam Mahmoud, who works at a dental clinic across the road from the blaze, said a patient walked in around 4pm and said there was a fire in the building.
“He actually wanted to jump in … to help anybody who was inside,” she said. “When I came out while I was watching it, it was actually turned into a big fire and I watched the whole building go up.”
Michelle Slater could smell “toxic” smoke when she got off the train at Central Station, before looking up to see the building going up in flames. Bystanders watched the fire from Randle Street before police arrived to cordon off the area “within five minutes”, she said.
“We could hear these snaps and bang and explosions … and all of these building materials came crashing down onto the ground,” she said. “These people in an apartment block next door were popping their heads out to find out what was going on, and we were screaming at them [to] get out.”
On Thursday night Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said the blaze was effectively contained to the two buildings involved. Firefighters had extinguished some small fires which spread to surrounding apartment buildings. He expected crews to be working to extinguish the blaze through the night and into the morning. (Int’l News Desk)
