Large blaze rages from Surry Hills apartment

Flames and black smoke have roared from the third floor of an apartment building in Sydney’s CBD, with a dozen fire engines responding to the scene.

Fire rages at an apartment building in Denham Street, Surry Hills this evening.

Flames have been seen roaring from the top level of a building in Sydney’s CBD, with twelve fire engines responding to the “large blaze”.

Black smoke blew into the windy streets from the window of a third floor residential apartment near Denham St on the edge of Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, with 36 firefighters and a dozen trucks responding to the blaze.

No injuries were reported from the blaze, with ambulance services assessing one person on the scene.

The fire was on the third floor.

The fire has since been extinguished with significant damage to the apartment.

NSW Ambulance inspector Mick Corlis said services responded to the fire “in a Mission Australia centre” after reports of evacuations at about 4.45pm.

Inspector Corlis said “the small fire was isolated to one room”.

Ambulance services assisted two patients, one man who uses a wheelchair and was uninjured as well as a person nearby at Taylor Square who paramedics were told was the burning apartment’s resident. Neither required medical attention.

National charity Mission Australia provides short-term affordable and social housing units for those on low incomes.

Local hairdresser Chad Drinkwater said he was getting supplies for work when his attention was caught by “the smell of burning rubber, I then looked around and saw the smoke coming from behind the building”.

“It’s a residential building, they’re all apartments in the building,” he said.

“Everyone seemed to be out safe and there weren’t many ambulances, just fire trucks and police cars.”

Originally published as Large blaze rages from Surry Hills apartment