Vignesh Varatharaja reveals horrifying moment Campbellfield factory fire began

A worker has recounted the terrifying moment he believes the Campbellfield factory inferno started after a chemical drum exploded and flew into his face while he was draining it.

A worker who was seriously hurt in the Campbellfield factory fire has recounted the horrifying moment a chemical drum exploded as he was draining it.

Vignesh Varatharaja, a Sri Lankan refugee who had been working at Bradford Industrial Services for two years, was draining chemicals from a 240-litre drum, when the barrel caught fire and flew into his shoulder and face. Flames engulfed him as he struggled to put them out with his gloves.

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Vignesh Varatharaja was badly injured in the industrial fire at Campbellfield.

Workers have previously said they were unable to get extinguishers or fire hoses on the blaze before the flames could spread to a stockpile of 450,000 litres of chemical material starting an intense blaze that burned down the factory and blanketed Melbourne’s northern suburbs in toxic smoke.

Mr Varatharaja, who suffered burns to his throat, face and shoulder injuries said the barrel set alight without warning.

“Suddenly that drum exploded and it came directly to my face.

“So I just turned right and the drum hit my shoulder and face heavily and my body caught fire and my clothes started burning.

“Using my gloves I tried to stop the fire on my clothes. I wore glasses so it didn’t get into my eyes. I ran and pressed the fire alarm and went to my locker.

“Then a manager came there and asked me what happened. I said it caught fire inside.”

The fire rages through factories around Thornycroft St in Campbellfield. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A fireball erupts from the site of the Campbellfield fire. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Mr Varatharaja said he would never work in a chemical factory again.

“I didn’t know it would burst and cause so much fire,” he said.

“They told us it will burst only if you phone or smoke — how they instruct in petrol station.

“There were (a) few safety issues like workers don’t know what chemical is what.

“Sometimes it burns their skin … and if they mix wrong chemical it causes smoke so workers get breathing problems and cough.”

A WorkSafe spokesman said the investigation into the blaze was ongoing.

“WorkSafe takes all concerns for workers’ health and safety seriously and will not hesitate to prosecute those who flout the law,” he said.

“The regulator will continue to carry out inspections and crack down on those who may be storing dangerous goods illegally or placing workers’ safety at risk.”

EPA chief executive Cathy Wilkinson said the authority was currently inspection all licensed sites similar to Bradbury Industrial Services.

“In mid-March, Bradbury was inspected by EPA and found to be over its licensed capacity. EPA took strong and appropriate regulatory action by suspending Bradbury’s licence,” she said.

“The suspension banned the company from accepting additional waste to its site, until it had processed enough of the existing waste to reduce the incoming liquid waste to a size that complied with the licence.

“The company was working towards compliance when the fire occurred.”

AWU Victoria branch secretary Ben Davis said there were still many questions that needed to be answered about the fire.

The aftermath of the toxic blaze in Campbellfield. Picture: Alex Coppel

Warehouse assistant Vignesh Varatharaja. Picture: AAP

“The fire was a catastrophe that shouldn’t have happened,” he said.

“There are no simple solutions to this. it needs a multifaceted response.

“People should be able to go to work and come back in one piece.

“We’ll be spending time with Mr Varatharaja and make sure he is being looked after in coming days … He came here for a better life and unfortunately got injured.”

Mr Davis said toxic waste should be tracked and authorities should take control of sites that do not fulfil their safety obligations.

“There is also obviously a huge black market out there,” he said.

“The system was not working the way it was supposed to.”

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