Backpackers living in shipping containers rescued from factory fire in Alexandria

A GROUP of foreign backpackers were paying up to $120 a week to live inside shipping containers and caravans before a fire exposed the illegal accommodation.

Fire has destroyed a storage complex on Burrows Road, Alexandria. Flames were seen rising 30 metres into the air with explosions heard coming from within. There were backpackers living in shipping containers and an old bus out the back of the building.

A GROUP of foreign backpackers were paying up to $120 each a week to live inside shipping containers and caravans before a fire exposed the illegal accommodation in Alexandria early yesterday morning.

Four people were rescued and another 14 evacuated during the blaze in a single-storey factory in Burrows Rd, just before 2am.

About 75 firefighters from 12 stations battled 30m flames before extinguishing the blaze at about 3am.

There has been extensive damage after a major fire in central Sydney overnight. Picture: Bill Hearne

The 15 people living at the site were sleeping in shipping containers and caravans behind the industrial complex, using an old bus as a kitchen and sharing one toilet.

Authorities have since launched an investigation into the site, ­reportedly advertised online as cheap accommodation.

One backpacker said he was paying $120 per week to live at the property, while another said he was paying $80 a week.

Firefighters at the scene of a fire at an industrial complex at Alexandria which uncovered people living in shipping containers and an old bus.

Japanese man Eigi Tamada, who had been living at the property for four months, said there was only one toilet between 15 men. He said they were “very scared” when they awoke to smoke and flames so close to where they were sleeping.

“Suddenly there was a big bang. Then there was smoke. We ran out,” he said.

Another backpacker, who did not want to be named, said he was “very angry” they had been allowed to live in unsafe conditions.

Eigi Tamada (right) and a fellow backpacker were rescued from the shipping containers and an old bus where they were living.

He said he did not know it was ­illegal and “would not live there” if he had known.

“Of course I didn’t know. I live there because it was cheap and near my work. It was very cold at night,” he said.

Fire has destroyed a storage complex on Burrows Road, Alexandria. There were people living in shipping containers and an old bus out the back of the building. Picture: Daniel Aarons.

NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins said firefighters were shocked to find people living there.

“There were people living in squalor, with beds in old mini buses, shipping containers, and an old caravan, with a massive fire moving towards them,” Mr Mullins said.

“The firefighters had to shield the people from the heat ... they were too frightened to move.

“Had the firefighters not realised they were there they well could have lost their lives. There would have been no escape.”

Firefighters respond to the blaze on Burrows Rd, Alexandria. Picture: Bill Hearne

Mr Mullins said he was “outraged” by the illegal operation at the site.

“If this is a commercial operation there’s going to be harsh action taken against the people doing this,” he said.

Mr Mullins said NSW Fire and Rescue would place orders on the property to ensure that no one returned to the site.

Twelve fire stations were involved in tackling the blaze. Picture: Bill Hearne

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