Fire destroys Mackay industrial shed
Specialist fire investigators are trying to determine how a large blaze ripped through a Mackay business while police stand guard. VIDEO, PHOTOS.
Police & Courts
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A witness of a large inferno that razed an industrial shed in Mackay overnight says she “feel(s) sorry for the owners” as investigators try to piece together what happened.
Police declared a crime scene and were standing guard after a large fire destroyed an industrial shed in West Mackay that forced some evacuations.
Emergency services had fought to contain the inferno that erupted following initial reports of a “large bang and then smoke” from the site at Hume St near Streeter Ave just after 8pm on Thursday.
Melissa Hoare lives in the apartment block to the north of the shed and said she noticed the power go out before she heard a bang.
“At first I thought it was a car accident … then all of a sudden I noticed there were lots of cops and fireys around,” she said.
“And I thought, oh something real bad’s happened.
“I feel sorry for the owners.”
On Friday night, a QFES spokesman said seven crews were sent to fight the blaze at a 20 by 40m industrial shed belonging to MineCoat Plus Quality Abrasive Blasting and Industrial Painting.
Ms Hoare said she went to her backyard and saw the shed on fire before calling a friend on Bridge Road, who she said had not heard the bang.
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said the fire was being treated as suspicious.
The QPS spokeswoman said there had been some evacuations because of the fire and officers had also blocked off Hume St at the scene while the fire was being contained.
A crime scene has been declared and further investigations will continue.
A QFES spokesman on Friday morning said specialist investigators had arrived at the scene to try and determine how the fire began.
Police, ambulance and firefighter crews were all at the fire overnight.
A QFES spokesman said the shed’s roof had collapsed but nobody had been inside the premise at the time the fire broke out.
Nearby residents had been advised to head back inside and close their doors and windows while firefighters brought the fire under control.
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