Warehouse fire at New Town destroys caravans, trailers

UPDATED: Residents have described several explosions as an “insanely scary” blaze ripped through a warehouse. SEE THE PICTURES + VIDEO

Career and volunteer fire crews from all over greater Hobart were called to the large fire in New Town just before 3:30am this morning. Picture: WARREN FREY/TFS

NEW Town residents have described hearing “explosion, after explosion, after explosion” as caravans and trailers went up in flames at a nearby warehouse.

Firefighters from across greater Hobart were first called to the storage facility, leased by King Trailer Industries, on Creek Rd at 3.17am yesterday.

Police who attended the scene said the damage bill from the blaze was expected to reach several million dollars after a “large number” of new and old caravans and trailers inside the now collapsed warehouse were completely destroyed.

Nicki Thilthorpe, who lives on Sinclair Ave — an elevated street directly above where the fire started, described the dramatic incident as “insanely scary”.

“My daughter’s whole room was lit up like a Christmas tree,” she said.

“There were LPG gas bottles down there and we could just hear explosion, after explosion, after explosion, for about an hour and a half.

“The fire was massive, we were freaking out.”

Nearby resident Sharon Eaton spent most of the night out on the deck monitoring the ferocious fire with her family after a neighbour knocked on their door about 3.15am.

She said the thick billowing smoke created what looked like a “mushroom cloud” overhead.

Quick acting firefighters used Ms Eaton’s backyard to attack the fire from above and prevent it from running up the hill and threatening homes.

“The fire brigade was extremely good. They parked out the front and set up a really big hose over our fence to drop water down onto the fire,” she said.

“It was very scary, but once the fireys arrived we knew we were OK to stay.

“There was no wind, so the smoke was just going straight up. I have to get all the washing off the line and re-wash that, but inside doesn’t smell too bad.”

An explosion rocked the Hobart suburb of New Town in the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Thomas Bearman, who lives on the opposite side of Sinclair Ave, said the explosions would have been heard across the suburb.

“I woke up just after 3.15am to what sounded like gun shots,” Mr Bearman said.

“I opened the blinds to see what was happening and there was a big cloud of smoke and fire going up in the air.”

Mr Bearman said he then walked across the street and down a driveway which overlooked the warehouse.

“There was lots of noise, smoke and fire. All the gas tanks were blowing up,” he said.

“At least once, something big blew up and pushed me back a bit.”

The cause of the fire remained unknown last night, with investigations expected to take some time due to the scale of the blaze.

Creek Rd remained closed to all traffic until about 5pm, with motorists and pedestrians asked to avoid the area.

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The building has collapsed and several million dollars worth of caravans and trailers have been destroyed. This is what remains this morning. Picture: MATT THOMPSON