Car fire under block of units, Merrylands
Published: 21st April 2006
At 1 am on Friday 21 April 2006, 20 firefighters from four brigades were called to a building fire in Merrylands. Fire crews from Merrylands, Wentworthville, Parramatta and Guildford responded to several triple zero calls received by the NSW Fire Brigades.
Firefighters were on the scene quickly and found large volumes of smoke issuing from a three level home unit block. Three people were trapped on a balcony by the dense smoke. Firefighters immediately extended a ladder and rescued them. Other firefighters put on air cylinders to evacuate the building and investigate the source of the smoke. They quickly found that a car was on fire in the basement car park.
Ten people were removed to safety; three were treated at the scene by Ambulance officers for smoke inhalation injuries before they were taken to hospital. One firefighter had a hand injury which was treated at the scene. Within 45 minutes firefighters had the fire contained. They remained at the scene until 6 am completing extinguishment, mopping up and removing smoke from the building.
The fire destroyed the car and damaged the basement area. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the NSW Fire Brigades’ Fire Investigation and Research Unit and the Police.