Chullora waste recycling centre fire plume visible from Sydney CBD
Updated
A large fire at a waste recycling centre at Chullora in Sydney's west could burn for up to two days, firefighters have said.
The fire broke out shortly after 9:00am and 100 firefighters responded to it, Fire and Rescue New South Wales said.
It created a large plume of smoke, which was visible from the Sydney CBD.
Fire and Rescue NSW said all people were accounted for, with a number of residences and factories evacuated.
Superintendent Ian Krimmer said the building was engulfed by flames, but it had now been contained.
"It's a large factory complex, it is full of carpets, plastics and paper," he said.
"There were some fears about some LP gas cylinders that are at the rear which we are currently cooling down."
Fire crews have been pumping water from more than a kilometre away and Superintendent Krimmer said the fire could burn for hours or even days.
"Because we can't allow crews inside the structure, it's going to take some time to burn, but weather conditions are favourable and the plume is travelling straight up into the atmosphere," he said.
"It is producing a huge pall of black smoke [but] we do have our hazmat crews monitoring to determine if there is any toxicity in that smoke."
Fire and Rescue NSW Deputy Commissioner Jim Hamilton said there had been some partial roof collapses that had prevented firefighters from going inside the factory.
"This particular fire, given what is actually burning, will take an extensive time to extinguish," he said.
"These type of fires will traditionally take a day or two to extinguish fully.
"At the present time, we are fighting the fire externally, defensively because of the possibility of collapse, and we've already had roof collapse in one of the sectors."
Motorists were being urged to avoid the area and Anzac and Brunker Roads have been closed.
Topics: fires, chullora-2190
First posted
