Huge industrial fire at Kingston causes emergency declaration

More than 20 people and a number of animals have been evacuated after a massive fire destroyed a storage business south of Brisbane, causing a huge property losses.

A business has been destroyed following a fire south of Brisbane overnight that forced a number of people and their pets to be evacuated from their homes and claimed the possessions of others.

The fire erupted at the Storage King business on Kingston Rd at Kingston just after 10pm, destroying much of the building.

Police declared an exclusion zone, which has now been revoked, and an evacuation centre was established as the fire took hold.

The building is situated between two service stations and there are also a number of homes backing on to the facility.

More than 20 people were taken to the evacuation centre at the Kingston Butter Factory, along with seven dogs and 12 cats, with police doorknocking homes within the exclusion zone.

An exclusion zone is in place around the fire, with an evacuation centre open nearby. Picture: QAS

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Inspector Chris Griffin said initial investigations revealed the blaze started in four units, before going on to destroy two-thirds of the building and 130 storage spaces.

Firefighters are yet to understand what may have sparked the blaze.

“We haven’t been able to make access to those units yet,” Inspector Griffin said.

“We’re still in firefighting mode, we’re not even looking at investigating until later on today.”

He said crews were quickly forced to retreat because the building was unsafe.

He said the building had completely collapsed all the way up to the firewall crews were defending.

A huge fire at a storage facility at Kingston, south of Brisbane overnight. Picture: QAS

He said firefighters were able to shut down fuel and gas at the nearby service stations.

“It was just a matter of protecting those structures and ensuring that we had no issues on those so we’re able to do that over the night and into the morning and we’re very happy where we’re at right now,” he told the ABC this morning.

The fire was brought under control about 5.40 this morning after more than a 50 firefighters attended the scene.

The original exclusion zone established by police overnight. Picture: Supplied

An exclusion zone was established late last night as a result of the fire and police were evacuating properties along Kingston Rd, Juers Rd, Skyline Drive, Jacaranda Ave and Hibiscus Street.

Devonderey Faauli and her mother Ida were evacuated to the centre but returned to their nearby unit about 7.30am.

Ms Faauli said her mother smelt smoke about 10:30pm but “didn’t think anything of it” until a police constable knocked on their door an hour later.

Emergency crews were called to the Kingston Rd site just after 10am. Picture: QAS

“We had the bang on the door ‘there’s fire, get some warm clothes and grab what you can and evacuate across the road’,” she said.

“We were across the road from about 30 minutes before we were ushered to the butter factory.”

Ms Faauli said emergency services were concerned about potential “explosions” in the area with several petrol stations in the nearby vicinity.

Firefighters attacke the fire from above. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Vanessa Wegener and her mother Kim Griffiths rushed down to the storage facility after they received a text message about the fire overnight.

“We got a text message about midnight … we had family photos and jewellery in there,” Ms Griffiths said.

Vanessa Wegenger, Kim Griffiths and baby Casey McDonald raced to the scene after receiving a text message from Storage King. Picture: Samantha Scott

Although the extent of the damage is unknown, Ms Griffiths said it was obvious from the street that all of their personal items had been destroyed in the blaze.

“It’s just devastating … so many baby photos,” she said.

Tammy Robinson from Formally Ever After said she lost “thousands” of dresses and recent donations in the blaze.

Formally Ever After is a community program in Logan which supplies free donated dresses, suits and accessories for young people struggling with the costs of attending their school formal.

The charity operates out of the home of passionate “formal fairy godmother”, Tammy Robinson.

Tammy Robinson from Formally Ever After with her daughter Ryleigh. Picture: Samantha Scott

A visibly upset Tammy said as soon as she saw photos of the blaze she knew she had “lost everything”.

“My husband was walking to work this morning, he (called) and said the storage facility was on fire,” she said.

But Tammy said she was confident the community would help her rebuild.

“I know it’s not just us, hundreds of people and families will be affected … I’ve had heaps of messages from people saying they will help us rebuild and help the local community rebuild but it’s just really sad,” she said.

Firefighters say the fire started in a small section of the facility and spread to destroy more than 100 units. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Inspector Griffin said people should take precautions even after they returned to their homes.

“We just recommend that everyone stay clear of the area, there is still a large amount of smoke that is issuing from the building, mainly steam and by-products of our water,” he said.

“But we just ask that everyone close their windows, keep their pets inside, and anyone with any sort of medical difficulties call this, call triple-0 straight away to get some help.”

Traffic diversions were in place.

Smoke is likely to impact surrounding areas for hours.

Fire crews remain at the Kingston Rd fire on Friday morning.

Originally published as Huge industrial fire at Kingston causes emergency declaration