Thick black smoke blanketed the sky above a northern suburbs factory after it went up in flames early on Saturday.
More than 30 firefighters battled the blaze at Valmont Coatings' Campbellfield factory for more than an hour.
More than 30 firefighters brought the blaze at a Campbellfield factory under control in just over an hour.Credit: Simon Schluter
Emergency services were alerted to the fire at Lara Way around 7am, and it was declared under control shortly before 8.30am. It was fully extinguished within hours.
It is believed around six people self-evacuated before firefighters arrived, and there have been no reports of injuries. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Crews were forced to use breathing appliances while battling the blaze due to the smoke billowing from the factory.
HAZMAT teams have been called in to help control potentially toxic chemicals that may be caught up in the fire.
The factory specialises in coating metal objects in protective zinc, and is one of a chain of businesses across Australia, Asia and America.
WorkSafe officers visited the site on Saturday morning but a spokeswoman said they would not be investigating further.
As the factory burned, thick black smoke was blown northeast towards Epping, and the MFB issued a community safety warning for residents in Campbellfield, Epping, Lalor, Somerton, Coolaroo, and Dallas.
They were advised to close windows and doors, turn off heating and cooling and seek medical advice if they believe they have been affected by the smoke.
The emergency warning has since been taken down.
There have been a number of factory fires in Melbourne's north in recent months.
Firefighters at the scene of a previous factory fire in Campbellfield. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Just over a week ago, a Campbellfield mechanics workshop caught fire, with residents reporting hearing explosions.
That factory neighboured a facility believed to hold tens of thousands of litres of allegedly illegally dumped toxic waste.
In April, a massive inferno at Bradbury Industrial Services factory in Campbellfield destroyed more than 300,000 litres of illegally stored toxic chemicals burned, sending plumes of hazardous smoke over Melbourne's north.
Vignesh Varatharaja, a Sri Lankan immigrant, was seriously injured in the blaze, after a chemical drum he had just filled with solvent blew up in his face.
Up to 11 million litres of chemicals were stored at the facility.