Melbourne factory fires: Campbellfield, Thomastown sites on EPA taskforce radar

It’s been revealed two factories engulfed by fires in Melbourne’s north over the past fortnight were already on the radar of a statewide taskforce.

Two businesses engulfed by large factory fires in Melbourne’s north over the past fortnight were already on the radar of a statewide taskforce targeting high-risk waste stockpiles.

The Environment Protection Authority Victoria, which chairs the Resource Recovery Facilities Audit Taskforce, confirmed to NCA NewsWire it was aware of both the Campbellfield and Thomastown businesses before the recent industrial blazes.

The environmental watchdog also confirmed investigations had been launched into both incidents, with EPA staff and fire investigators understood to have spent Monday at the site of the Campbellfield fire.

An advice message remained in place until Wednesday morning for that fire at the MRI E-cycle Solutions site on Sydney Rd, with nearby residents woken by explosions and smoke after it started in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Firefighters tackle a blaze at a recycling factory in Campbellfield on Sunday. Picture: Sarah Matray

A Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) spokeswoman said it took about 75 firefighters just under five hours to bring the blaze under control, with it declared contained about two hours later.

The spokeswoman said the cause of the fire was not yet known, with the factory housing an e-waste recycling business for unwanted electronics and batteries.

It comes after an exploding forklift may have caused a large blaze that engulfed a pile of rubber tyres and old disbanded cars at a wreckers yard in Thomastown on July 28.

One worker was taken to hospital with facial burns and eight others were evacuated from the Settlement Rd warehouse blaze that took firefighters almost 24 hours to fully extinguish.

Fire crews at the scene of a large fire in an industrial estate at Thomastown in Melbourne's north. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Crews try to contain the Campbellfield fire. Picture: Sarah Matray

Assistant chief fire officer Darren Conlin said at the time the high fuel load and significant fire activity meant crews had to attack the blaze from a safe distance.

That site has since been handed back to the owner, who FRV said was working with the EPA and WorkSafe on continuing recovery efforts.

The specialist audit taskforce was set up by the State Government in the wake of the SKM Recycling plant fire in Coolaroo in July 2017 that took 20 days to fully extinguish and forced nearby residents to evacuate.

The latest figures released to NCA NewsWire showed since 2017 the multi-agency taskforce had conducted 965 inspections at 226 high interest sites that required ongoing monitoring and engagement.

At least 310 notices and 62 sanctions have been issued as a result of the inspections.

An EPA spokesman said the sites presented the greatest risk to human health and the environment, with intelligence identifying a further 35 sites that were earmarked for inspection in 2020.

The taskforce aims to try to reduce the risk of fires from stockpiled combustible materials at resource recovery facilities across the state through regular inspections and management and improving industry awareness of best practice.

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