By Alex Crowe and Lachlan Abbott
One person is unaccounted for and several others, including two firefighters, were injured when a fire engulfed a paint factory in Melbourne’s south-east on Friday.
A factory worker is yet to be located and two other workers were taken to hospital with burns to their upper body from the Dandenong South fire that took emergency services several hours to contain.
Two firefighters also received burns to the upper body when there was an explosion inside the Superior Drive factory as they were battling the blaze.
Nearby streets were shut off and local businesses closed. A truck belonging to the owner of a nearby business was destroyed in the blaze, while steel distribution business Metalcorp Dandenong evacuated staff because of the fire nearby.
Fire crews were mostly successful in containing the blaze to the factory, although a neighbouring business received minor damage.
Strong winds spread thick black smoke across the suburb, prompting an emergency warning for nearby residents to seek shelter inside.
“Close all exterior doors and windows. Close vents and ensure heating and cooling systems are turned off,” the warning said. “If you are away from home do not return.”
Nearby residents were advised it was safe to return to their homes at about 6.30pm. Fire Rescue Victoria declared the fire under control at about 9pm.
A spokesperson said firefighters had been unable to search inside the building for the missing person.
“One person remains unaccounted for,” the spokesperson said. “As the structure was fully engulfed with flames, firefighters are unable to make entry into the building to conduct a primary search.”
Firefighters had been battling to control the paint factory blaze since about 12pm, which was made more difficult due to the weather conditions. Temperatures soared above 30 degrees in Melbourne, with the airport recording a wind gust of 94 km/h.
Firefighters were expected to remain at the Dandenong South property throughout Friday night as a cleanup operation got underway.
Fire Rescue Victoria assistant chief fire officer Greg Christison said specialist firefighters were dealing with “very challenging conditions”.
“The fires involves a factory that has a lot of liquid chemicals in it and it’s a very challenging complex fire to manage and mitigate at the moment,” he said.
“They’re very challenging conditions today and the wind is quite extreme. It is going to be a long, drawn-out, protracted event for us.”
Ambulance Victoria said two men, including one in his 60s, had been taken to The Alfred hospital. Both were in a stable condition with upper body injuries.
They said two firefighters, a man in his 30s and another in his 40s, had been taken to Dandenong Hospital, where both were also in a stable condition.
Christison said the firefighters were being taken care of in hospital with all necessary welfare and support arrangements.
“During the course of their duties there’s been some internal fire activity which has caused some minor explosions and minor injuries to our firefighters,” he said. “Their care is our primary concern at the moment.”
Superior Drive, Hammond Road and Dandenong South Road were closed to all traffic on Friday evening. More than 120 firefighters and more than 40 vehicles remained on scene.
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