West Footscray factory inferno under control but smoke alert remains
THE owner of the West Footscray inferno factory has broken his silence to say the former tenant had many enemies chasing him for money they were owed. It comes as authorities say they can’t identify all the chemicals from the blaze without speaking to the tenant.
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THE owner of the West Footscray inferno factory has broken his silence to say the former tenant had many enemies chasing him for money they were owed.
It has emerged tax agents recently raided the accountancy firm linked to the owner of the factory, Chris Baldwin.
MORE: NEIGHBOURS ENDURE STRESSFUL DAY OF TOXIC SMOKE
LIVING WEST SHOULDN’T BE SO FLAMING DANGEROUS
The warehouse in Somerville Rd Tottenham is owned by Danbol Pty Ltd, whose previous company director in 2011 was Hells Angel Reginald George Roberts — now in jail in South Australia over drug charges.
Mr Baldwin told the Herald Sun he had to kick out the previous tenant six weeks ago because he was months behind on his rent.
He said there were a lot of angry people chasing that former tenant, who had used the warehouse as a timber yard making pallets.
“There are a lot of disgruntled creditors out there of his,” he said.
“He cost me a heap of money too.”
In recent weeks the new tenant had been visited by people looking to recoup money from the previous tenant.
“He said there’s been people coming in demanding money,” Mr Baldwin said.
MFB incident controller Trent Curtin said authorities were still trying to track down the previous tenant.
He said the landlord and current tenant had cooperated but they were unable to reach the previous tenant.
Mr Curtin said that tenant could hold key information on what type of chemicals were burning.
“We know there are a number of chemicals in a range of formats that have mixed together,” he said.
“At this stage we have no idea exactly what chemicals are inside the building. We won’t know what they are for some time.”
Mr Baldwin said he was helping authorities with the fire investigation.
Baldwin Taxation and Advisory was part of 11 properties raided by the more than 250 ATO officers across Melbourne and Shepparton as part of a probe into alleged phoenix activity and avoidance of tax.
Mr Baldwin said the fire was unrelated to the recent ATO raids on his accounting firm.
“I’m just co-operating, I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.
“I’ve got nothing to hide.
“The things with the ATO are just an invasion of privacy and so forth. I don’t believe I’ve got anything to hide in relation to that either.”
WORKSAFE TO BLITZ FACTORIES IN WEST
WORKSAFE will blitz factories in Melbourne’s inner west in a bid to prevent another inferno.
The body will begin targeting industrial areas in suburbs including West Footscray and Braybrook next week.
Inspectors will focus on ensuring potentially dangerous chemicals are being stored correctly and that regulations are being adhered to regarding labelling, storage and handling of chemicals, and have correct safety equipment in place and emergency controls in place.
Enforcement notices will be issued for any breaches that must be rectified.
MFB incident controller Trent Curtin confirmed the factory was empty at the time of yesterday’s fire sparked and there were no injuries.
He said the cause remained unknown and he was unable to say yet if it was being treated as suspicious.
The flames were extinguished this morning and the fire was now described as smouldering, Mr Curtin said.
Machinery and excavators were used by fire crews to knock down the walls and roof to allow firefighters closer to the source of the blaze.
Firefighters were expected to spend another three to four days at the scene.
“There’s still plenty of work to do, there’s a lot of materials inside the building,” Mr Curtin said.
The roadblock on Somerville Rd would remain in place tonight and was due to be lifted by tomorrow.
Affected businesses would be able to reopen in the coming days, Mr Curtin said.
“We’re asking the community to return to their normal business but to keep an eye out for any smoke that might be in the area or smells,” he said.
By 4.30pm the smoke from the fire had dissipated and there were clear skies at the scene.
Strong chemical fumes remain noticeable around the West Footscray fire site today as firefighters prepare to bring in bulldozers to help fight the blaze
The clean up efforts come as the Environmental Protection Authority revealed the discovery of two dead fish at Newport, could be linked to the flow-on of contaminated water from the fire fight
A water quality report issued at 1.45pm warned residents to stay clear of the Stony Creek waterway, including bike and walking tracks adjacent to the water.
Chief scientist Andrea Hinwood said: “It’s not huge numbers, and we don’t know whether it’s something naturally that’s occurred or whether in fact it’s pollution that’s generated that.”
Dr Hinwood said more fish could die from contamination in the coming days.
“If you think about it it’s a big slug of pollution coming down your system, it possibly will be in the next day or so that we’ll see that.”
Dr Hinwood said people were being warned to stay away from Stony Creek and not to fish in the area, or eat any fish they have caught.
Water testing up and downstream from West Footscray had revealed “an unfortunate complex of chemicals” in the water, with more assessments to follow to work out exactly what type of pollutants.
Dr Hinwood said it was too early to tell whether chemicals burning in the warehouse had been safely stored.
She said audits of worksites were the responsibility of other regulatory agencies, but said for the past year EPA had been working with the MFB and CFA to inspect some facilities.
The EPA would wait for the full investigation to determine if it needs to review its processes in light of yesterday’s fire.
“This is something all of us (government agencies) will work together to actually look at what happened, how it happened, and we’ll deal with that down the track.”
Meanwhile the list of suburbs on high alert has been reduced from 19 this morning to 11, with a watch and act still current for large parts of the inner west.
MFB incident controller Trent Curtin said air quality is good across the wider community today.
“We will not be closing schools or making recommendations to close schools or child care centres today,” he said.
He said current advice remains for locals to monitor conditions, stay indoors where possible and limit their exposure to any smoke.
Andrew Crisp, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, told 3AW this morning that they were carefully monitoring the air quality.
“The advice from the EPA (Environment Protection Authority) is actually good, it’s very good, so there’s no issues so that’s why schools will be up and running today, so everyone’s confident that it’s safe,” he said.
Currently, the warning area covers Altona East, Altona North, Brooklyn, Kingsville, Newport, South Kingsville, Spotswood, Sunshine, Tottenham, West Footscray and Yarraville.
The state’s health authorities say the risk is low, but the advice to avoid areas with smoke remains, especially for people more sensitive to smoke including children and pregnant women.
Anyone experiencing wheezing, chest tightness or difficulty breathing should call triple-0.
BUSINESSES REMAIN CLOSED
The financial impact is being felt by businesses closed for a second day around the fire site.
Andrew and Cheryl Valneris are co-owners of Victorian Container Management, directly over the road from the fire.
Mrs Valneris said they were hopeful of getting back to work by lunchtime but said the closure was having a major financial impact.
“It’s frustrating for us and for our clients, every day, every hour they can’t get access to our yard,” she said.
“The import exports out of Melbourne is huge. It’s millions of dollars every day that it costs to run these ships, that’s how much money we’re talking about. We’re talking about 500, 600 trucks; a lot of money and missed exports.”
The husband and wife team flew in from Bali at 6am yesterday and saw the smoke from the airport.
“We thought it looks like it’s near work, the first thing Cheryl said was ‘I hope that’s not VCM’,” Mr Valneris said.
“We jumped in the car and heard on the radio Somerville Rd and thought ‘ah’.”
Their container depot has 46 staff and all were sent home yesterday as businesses in the area were evacuated.
Staff members from neighbouring businesses are waiting by a roadblock at Paramount Rd unsure if they will have to work today.
Joe Salih said the Leading Car Sales car yard where he works was closed yesterday due to a “shocking smell”.
“We just hope the toxic fumes haven’t done any damage to the business, but we don’t know,” he said.
He said it was unclear if it would be able to reopen today.
BLAZE ONE OF OUR BIGGEST
The fight continued overnight to put out the mass inferno after a West Footscray industrial shed, where hazardous chemicals were stored, went up in flames, blanketing the sky in thick black smoke with explosions punctuating the emergency.
The MFB declared the fire as under control just after 10pm, but warned there would be smoke in the area for “some time” and residents should continue to monitor conditions.
The inferno was half the size of the MCG and forced road closures, shut schools and forced businesses to send home workers.
Fire chiefs said the blaze would burn for days to come. Firefighters would remain on scene until the clean-up was complete.
The exact cause of the fire is still unknown.
Firefighters said the blaze was one of the biggest in Melbourne for a long time but there was no reason to believe it was suspicious at this stage.
Residents on Thursday night gathered at the Footscray Town Hall where they were briefed about the blaze.
Many were angry, saying the industrial area needed to be investigated because there was a lack of transparency about potential health risks.
Locals also said they were frustrated at a lack of communication from authorities on Thursday, saying they resorted to social media to find out what was going on.
Some at the meeting were also worried about long-term health problems linked to the fire and the impact on the environment, with large amounts of toxic run-off seeping into Stony Creek.
More than 140 firefighters battled the fire from the ground and in the air on Thursday, with the smoke seen as far away as Geelong.
The warehouse owners told the Herald Sun they were working with authorities, as was their truck company tenant, to determine the cause.
“We are pretty shocked and devastated and just relieved that nobody was hurt,” the owner said.
“It’s a good thing that it happened at five in the morning and not during the day when there would have been a lot of people there. I feel sorry for people because there has been so much disruption which doesn’t help the city.”
The fire started about 5am at the intersection of Somerville and Paramount roads, 9km west of the CBD.
It quickly engulfed the factory but luckily did not spread to neighbouring businesses.
Residents in 10 suburbs were originally on a watch and act alert, which was increased to 20 suburbs later in the afternoon. The building contained asbestos and crews tried to reduce the risk of fibres spreading into the air.
Fanning the blaze was the highly flammable acetone, commonly found in nail polish remover, and oxyacetylene, sparking health fears. Firefighters were on Thursday night battling to put out the hot spot in the middle of the factory after managing to contain the building’s boundary.
Assistant chief fire officer Rob Purcell said the smoke was damaging to health, and authorities were keeping in close contact with hospitals to monitor if there were spikes in respiratory problems.
“All smoke is toxic. This is particularly black — there’s probably some hydrocarbons in there, that’s the reason it’s the colour it is,” he said.
Premier Daniel Andrews was briefed by Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp on Thursday morning and said it was a “very, very challenging fire”.
SCHOOLS AND CHILDCARE CENTRE TO REOPEN
SCHOOLS and early childhood centres were set to reopen on Friday after toxic smoke from the massive West Footscray fire forced about 50 to close on Thursday.
The blaze caused chaos for families in Melbourne’s west as schools and childcare centres sent out urgent messages to parents asking them to pick up their children in the early afternoon.
Parents were forced to call in sick to look after their children, while some brought them into work because they did not want to leave them at home in the toxic smoke.
FACTORY FIRE CLEAN UP WILL TAKE DAYS
MFB acting chief officer Greg Leach says fire crews will spend several days at the scene.
“We will be here for many days cleaning up the site and making sure the fire is completely blacked out,” Mr Leach said.
“It’ll be a three or four day operation at least, I reckon. We’re not going to know until we get in there.”
Mr Leach said the occupier renting the site had been in the process of moving out of the property.
Both he and the new occupier who is moving in had co-operated with authorities on Thursday, Mr Leach said.
State emergency commissioner Andrew Crisp defended the decision not to send out text message alerts to neighbouring residents.
He said the emergency alert was reserved for when there was an immediate threat to life.
“There’s always an opportunity after any operation to look back at what happened and if there’s an opportunity to do things better we’ll certainly be exploring that,” he said.
IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENT, ANIMALS REMAIN
FAVOURABLE winds largely protected vulnerable Melburnians from toxic smoke on Thursday, however authorities are poised to issue health alerts if conditions deteriorate today.
Residents across Melbourne’s west have been warned to stay away from contaminated waterways and to keep windows closed if they are susceptible to respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Despite the city being blanketed in smoke from the fire, hospitals across Melbourne’s west did not have any fire-related admissions or experience an increase in respiratory cases on Thursday.
Environmental Protection Authority chief scientist Andrea Hinwood said conditions saw the fire’s smoke plume rise high and so far “no major issue” had been detected by ground-based air monitoring stations.
West footscray fire disaster for Stony Creek pic.twitter.com/aGWXP9Fg4Y
— steven wilson (@stevenwilson301) August 30, 2018
Royal Melbourne Hospital respiratory specialist Dr Daniel Steinfort said there was no general cause for alarm, but recommended caution for those with existing ailments such as asthma or cardiac conditions in the coming days.
“Stay inside, avoid the area if you can and certainly continue to take your medications,’’ Dr Steinfort said.
He said the release of ultrafine particle matter might also present a risk of acute heart problems in coming months if absorbed into the bloodstream
Residents raised environmental effects at Thursday night’s community meeting. MFB acting chief officer Greg Leach said the MFB was working to minimise the risk, but the threat to animals remained.
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