2019 Campbellfield factory fire: Difference between revisions

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 company was given three months to clean up the site.^[4]

Background

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 April 5; 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.^[9][6] 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 April 7 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

Investigations

Investigations into the cause of the fire were started on 9 April, involving police, fire investigators from the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade, WorkSafe Victoria, and the Victorian Coroner.^[2] Initial speculations focused on the illegal or improper storage of flammable chemical waste.^[5]

The fire began less than one day after Victorian Environment Protection Authority authorities inspected the factory, and fifteen days^[8] after the factory had its license revoked for storing three times^[12] as much waste as it was permitted.^[13] The EPA's inspection on April 4 discovered 300,000 litres of chemicals inside.^[14]

EPA executive director Damian Wells said the factory contained "highly flammable materials".^[5]

The EPA has begun an independent review into its systems and processes for dealing with toxic waste.

References