A hundred firefighters, 20 fire trucks and an excavator are on fire at Rockdale’s warehouse as smoke suffocates the surrounding streets. Credit: Fire and Rescue NSW
Peter Perivolarellis was evacuated from Repco Rockdale on West Botany Street, where he works, around 9 a.m., when a fire broke out near the back of the store building.
“The fire is pretty big, but it’s under control,” he said. “The fires hit the scene pretty quickly.”
Perivolarellis said he suspected one of the nearby garbage was on fire when a customer told him there was smoke outside.
Customers and staff were evacuated from Repco Rockdale around 9 a.m. Saturday. Credit: Fire and Rescue NSW
“This is not the first time this has happened,” Perivolarellis said. “But the last fire was not of this scale and was extinguished in an hour or so. This is one of the worst I’ve seen for sure.”
Brighton Le Sands resident Zin Snehal Kamble, who lives a mile from the warehouse, said there was smoke “everywhere” in the area and urged shoppers to avoid the Rockdale Plaza mall.
“Around 8:30 I heard sirens and helicopters,” he said. “People go up to Rockdale Plaza on Saturday. For the elderly, the smoke is so bad that I’m worried they’ll be out today. “
From Sydney Airport, where tens of thousands of passengers arrived early for their long weekend departures after queuing chaos and terrible Friday delays, a thick black smoke is visible coming out of the facilities.
Shed operator Cleanaway confirmed the fire broke out at its Rockdale facility.
“The site was completely evacuated and there were no injuries from site staff or the community,” a Cleanaway spokesman said. “We are working to control the impact of the fire.”
Cleanaway Chief Corporate Affairs Mark Biddulph said the cause of the fire would be investigated. He said fires at waste facilities were often caused by lithium batteries and gas bottles, which can cause fires in landfills and garbage trucks when disposed of incorrectly.
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