Blaze breaks out at popular Melbourne music venue

Firefighters have descended on Melbourne music venue 170 Russell after a fire broke out near the stage, forcing nearly 300 people to evacuate.

Ticketholders are evacuated from 170 Russell as emergency services arrive.

Over 300 people were last night evacuated from Melbourne live music venue 170 Russell after a fire erupted near the stage.

Performers told patrons to “start moving towards the exits as quickly as possible” after noticing the blaze shortly before 10pm.

Renee Buckingham, who was attending the gig, said: “All of a sudden the back right of the stage was on fire”.

“(The host) was like ‘Oh wow, it’s actually on fire, everyone get out,” she told the Sunday Herald Sun.

Ms Buckingham said Russell St was shut down within 10 minutes and emergency services were quick to respond as people panicked.

“When I got out there was people having asthma attacks on the ground, screaming for puffers and things like that,” Ms Buckingham said.

Russell Street Melbourne 11pm
Multiple MFB crews have brought a fire under control at the 170 Russell venue, previously known as Billboard night club.
Vid: @aaaaerdna #Melbourne #170Russell #Billboard pic.twitter.com/l3XoT6TX4G

— Incident Alert-VicSA (@incident_alert) August 31, 2019

The live music venue, also known as Billboards, was hosting “Bingo Loco” — a performance that combines “epic music, ridiculous production, dance-offs”.

Another attendee, Andrea, said she and her friends in the front row noticed a small fire in the top right of the stage as the gig was ending.

They then alerted the host, former Triple J radio host Alex Dyson.

“He immediately ended the event but asking patrons to find the nearest exit and asking management to come to the stage,” she said.

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“Kudos to the host (Dyson) for being very professional and calm as to not cause any hysteria among a very drunk crowd.

“I was very alarmed when I first noticed the fire as it seemed to grow quickly.”

More than 25 firefighters and seven trucks were sent by the MFB to battle the blaze, which was brought under control within about half an hour.

It is not clear how many people were at the event, however general admission tickets sold out online and further tickets were available for purchase at the door.

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