Firefighters battle blaze at old munitions factory site

A “SIGNIFICANT” fire at a former Maribyrnong munitions factory burned for almost three hours but is now under control.

A BLAZE which tore through an old munitions factory in Melbourne’s west is now under control.

The grassfire which spread to the disused warehouse burned out-of-control for almost three hours with 25 trucks and aerial attacks called into battle the “significant” fire in Maribyrnong.

MFB confirmed the fire was deemed under control at 4.27pm this afternoon.

An advice warning remains in place for residents in Avondale Heights, Maidstone and Maribyrnong.

Twenty five MFB fire appliances are at the site. Picture: David Crosling

Emergency services were alerted at 12.55pm after a grass fire spread to the building, which sits on Department of Defence land off Cordite Rd.

Earlier firefighters had issues extinguishing the fire due to access to water on the site.

The fire inside the Defence site at Maribyrnong. Picture: David Crosling

Elvis the water chopper was called out to the blaze, with 25 MFB fire appliances including a water tanker and pumper used to tackle the fire.

The blaze was “fairly significant”, with police also called to the scene. Fire investigators are expected to attend.

Firefighters battling the blaze. Picture: Nine News

Meanwhile, a large fire is burning at a recycling plant on Fitzgerald Rd in Laverton North.

MFB and CFA crews were called to the blaze about 2pm and around 12 firetrucks are on scene.

About 50 MFB and CFA firefighters are making an aggressive attack on the pile.

The fire is concentrated to a pile of rubber and plastic, which is 12,000 cubic metres in size.

The fire is not enclosed in a building and is not yet under control.

Maribyrnong 1:15pm
MFB crews are at a 3rd Alarm fire in Cordite Ave that is clearly visible from the CBD. This fire has spread to surrounding grass as well. Avoid the smoke. pic.twitter.com/AuPGYhBMhy

— Incident Alert-VicSA (@incident_alert) February 28, 2018