2019 Campbellfield factory fire
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 | |
| Date | 5 April 2019 |
|---|---|
| Time | 06:40 AEST |
| Location | Campbellfield, Victoria, Australia |
| Coordinates | 37°38′45″S 144°56′28″E / 37.645925°S 144.9410784°E |
| Cause | Unknown |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 2 (both serious) |
The 2019 Campbellfield factory fire was a major industrial fire that began in Campbellfield, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on 5 April 2019. The size of the fire site was about 5,000 square metres (53,819.55 sq ft), and it emitted toxic smoke across the city's northern suburbs.[1] The fire was finally extinguished four days after it started.[2]
The company which operated the property where the fire took place, Bradbury Industrial Services, collapsed in July 2019, leaving taxpayers to potentially foot a multimillion-dollar clean-up bill.[3] On 1 August 2019, the administrators for the company were given three months to clean up the site.[4]
The fire occurred at a waste management factory owned by Bradbury Industrial Services on Thornycroft St at 6:40 am.[5] Buildings and vehicles were turned into fireballs and chemical drums sent soaring high above the warehouse as the inferno raged for hours. A witness in a nearby suburb to the fire said he saw a "massive explosion that looked like a mushroom cloud".[1] Two other fires had broken out in the facility previously.[6]
Bradbury Industrial Services provides storage and disposal services for hazardous and industrial waste, and specialises in treating solvent and other waste from paint and related industries.[7]
Fire
Metropolitan Fire Brigade firefighters brought the blaze under control by midday on 5 April; however, the fire was not fully extinguished until four days later.[2] About thirty people were believed to have escaped the building before the firefighters arrived. At least two factory workers were hospitalised as a result of severe burns from the fire, with one employee receiving an eye injury.
The fire was initially contained within four hours by 175 firefighters.[8] Fire crews remain at the scene, using heat-detection devices to continually identify and dampen-down hotspots.[6][9] The fire forced the closure of nearby schools and businesses. Some residents fled their homes to escape toxic fumes.[10]
A number of schools and kindergartens in proximity to the fire were closed as of 7 April including:[11]
- Dallas Brooks Community Primary School in Dallas
- Coolaroo South Primary School in Coolaroo
- Broadmeadows Primary School in Broadmeadows
- Hume Central Secondary College in Broadmeadows
- Meadows Primary School in Broadmeadows
- Hume Valley School in Dallas
- St Thomas More Primary School in Hadfield
- Ilim College in Broadmeadows
- Holy Child Primary School in Dallas
- St Dominic's Primary School in Broadmeadows
- Corpus Christi School in Glenroy