11/08/11 - Unit block evacuated at Fairfield
Published: 11th August 2011
At 2.06am, today, Thursday 11 August, crews were called to a fire in a carpark underneath a six-storey block of units in Fairfield Street, Fairfield.The first priority was to evacuate nearly 100 people from 50 units in the building due to the enormous amounts of acrid smoke. Police assisted in the large operation resulting in one Police officer being transported to hospital suffering smoke inhalation. All evacuated people were relocated at the nearby RSL. Fortunately no other injuries were reported.
Thirty firefighters from six surrounding stations were required to provide support to the firefighting operation in the underground carpark. The stairwells became heavily smoke logged and crews deployed Positive Pressure Fans to protect some residents unable to leave their units. It took until 5.00am to extinguish the difficult blaze and clear the building of all smoke. One car was totally destroyed and investigations are underway into the cause of the incident.