Australia Fair fire: hundreds of shoppers evacuated as blaze breaks out inside shopping centre
Australia Fair Shopping Centre has partially reopened after being evacuated when an electrical fire broke out in the complex. WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
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Australia Fair Shopping Centre has partially reopened after being evacuated when an electrical fire broke out in the complex.
The fire broke out just after 8am, with shoppers fleeing the centre, which had only reopened on Sunday after the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred had forced its closure.
The fire is understood to have broken out near or in the cinema area.
The centre reopened shortly before noon, with the section of the centre fronting Scarborough St – where the cinema is located – fenced off from the public.
The acrid smell of the electrical fire is still present throughout the building, with many retailers remaining closed.
Scarborough Street was blocked off with a massive emergency services response shortly after the fire broke out.
Hundred of shoppers flooded into the streets and the pouring rain during the evacuation.
Australia Fair Metro remained open but the skybridge to the main part of the complex was blocked during the emergency, which saw firefighters with respirator gear sent in to bring the fire under control.
A firefighter told the Bulletin there had been significant smoke in the upper floors of the centre.
“We have a lot of smoke to clear. It’s going to take a few hours before we are finished,” she said shortly after officers arrived on-scene.
Shoppers Josh Jensen and Brock Jones were inside Australia Fair when the evacuation alerts began ringing out.
“The alarms went off, we could smell smoke and not just smoke but a burning,” Mr Jones said.
“There was a big electrical fire in one of the shops.”
Latest from the scene at Australia Fair on the #goldcoast@GCBulletinpic.twitter.com/GEjxzuG0yg
— Andrew Potts (@GCS_Pottsy) March 9, 2025
Mr Jensen said centre staff reacted quickly to the emergency.
“Security was running through the centre yelling ‘evacuate, evacuate’ and we (initially) thought it was a false alarm,” he said.
“Then security was running and so was everyone else to get out.
“The coppers told us they don’t know when it will reopen.”
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Originally published as Australia Fair fire: hundreds of shoppers evacuated as blaze breaks out inside shopping centre
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