Barangaroo fire triggers Sydney CBD chaos Barangaroo fire brings smoke and gridlock to CBD A huge blaze at the Barangaroo construction site has shrouded Sydney in smoke, caused traffic chaos, and set fire to a 50-metre crane. One of the largest construction projects in Sydney could be set back months after a massive underground fire broke out at Barangaroo, closing major roads and forcing thousands of people to be evacuated from nearby buildings. The Western Distributor was finally reopened shortly after midnight on Thursday morning after engineers inspected the fire site and crane at Barangaroo and pronounced them safe. Firefighters walk around the damaged crane on the Barangaroo site on Thursday morning. Firefighters walk around the damaged crane on the Barangaroo site on Thursday morning. Photo: Nick Moir Despite earlier warnings from the Transport Management Centre that the road funnelling traffic onto the Harbour Bridge and into the city would be closed during Thursday morning's peak hour, it was reopened after the fire was largely extinguished. Advertisement The Western Distributor was reopened in both directions about 12.30am, and all major roads were open in the city on Thursday morning. Police said there would be some minor delays on Hickson Road and Sussex Street on Thursday, as the fire was still active and emergency vehicles need to access the site. Barangaroo fire: Firefighters remain on the scene as engineers move to inspect the crane. Barangaroo fire: Firefighters remain on the scene as engineers move to inspect the crane. Photo: James Brickwood ''Pedestrian access in the immediate area of the site will continue to be restricted until the fire is extinguished,'' police said. A Transport Management Centre spokesman said traffic on Wednesday night began easing around the Harbour Bridge about 7.30pm, and on the Anzac Bridge at about 8.30pm. ''The buses probably took a bit longer to recover, due to the fact that it took longer to head out and come back in so there was a knock-on effect,'' the spokesman said. - Fire breaks out: Smoke billows from the Barangaroo construction site on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Brianne Makin "The road had been closed due to safety concerns over a crane affected by fire at the site," the TMC said in a statement. "The closure was expected to remain in place throughout Thursday morning, however engineers have now deemed the site to be safe, and the road has been reopened." A plume of acrid smoke blanketed the central business district on Wednesday, and firefighters worked through the night to extinguish the fire, thought to have been started by a welding accident. Office workers evacuate while a fire burns at Barangaroo. Office workers evacuate while a fire burns at Barangaroo. Photo: Janie Barrett Late on Wednesday night a team of two fire crews were finally able to access the basement at the centre of the fire. On Wednesday, citybound traffic was backed up past North Sydney and bus commuters faced 45 minute delays as the air pollution worsened. Childcare centres were forced into lockdown to avoid the smoke, but emergency authorities insisted there was no risk of airborne toxic particles despite a history of soil contamination at the site. Traffic banked up around the CBD due to the closure of the Western Distributor. Traffic banked up around the CBD due to the closure of the Western Distributor. Photo: Rob Homer By 11pm on Wednesday, the fire -- which WorkCover believed was caused by a welding accident about 2pm, then spread to two levels of formwork at the base of Tower 3 -- was still burning and had caused significant enough damage to a large crane sitting on a concrete slab above the basement to prompt fears it would topple. The union representing workers on the project, the CFMEU, warned that the blaze could delay construction on the residential and retail hub by ''months''. This claim was strenuously denied by Lend Lease, the project manager. ''It is too early to speculate what impacts, if any, there will be on the project,'' a Lend Lease spokeswoman said. The NSW secretary of the building union, Brian Parker, said it was likely work would stop at the southern end of Barangaroo for the remainder of the week. e. A man reads a digital device at Pyrmont as the Barangaroo site burns in the background. ''It wouldn't be unrealistic that it would go the rest of this week into the end of next week before there is any resumption of work,'' he said. ''It's certainly going to push back the project. This could push this back for months.'' Mr Parker said once the fire was extinguished, the crane would need to be safely removed, then the integrity of the timber, steel and concrete would need to be tested by engineers. Some would need to be removed and rebuilt, he said.

• published: 12 Mar 2014
• views: 4