Warehouse fire, Alexandria
Published: 1st September 2006
At around 3 pm on Wednesday 30 August 2006, the NSW Fire Brigades was inundated with triple zero calls reporting a building on fire in Bourke Rd at Alexandria. Four fire units were responded. When the first crew arrived 6 minutes later they were confronted with a large single level, disused, corrugated iron warehouse engulfed in flames and an adjacent weatherboard warehouse also beginning to burn.
Additional resources were requested and ultimately 60 firefighters from 12 brigades were committed to fighting the fire.
Firefighters concentrated on cutting the fire off in the second warehouse by aggressively attacking the fire. Other crews protected a third warehouse with large hoses and an elevated water stream provided by a ladder truck. The warehouses were once used as wool stores and lanolin-soaked timbers burned with great intensity. Firefighters toiled for approximately an hour to bring the fire under control. They prevented the fire from spreading throughout the second warehouse and successfully defended the third. One side of the second warehouse was severely damaged. The warehouse where the fire started was destroyed. The collapsed walls and roof made it difficult for firefighters to access burning sections of the building and complete extinguishment. Fire crews were present throughout the night and the next day until the fire was fully extinguished.
There were no injuries resulting from this fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the NSW Fire Brigades' Fire Investigation and Research Unit and the Police.