Melbourne Airport fire sparks travel chaos as flights delayed

More than 1500 people were evacuated from a Melbourne Airport terminal, leading to delays of up to two hours, after a fire broke out at Terminal 1 on Friday night.

More than 1500 people were evacuated from a Melbourne Airport terminal, leading to delays of up to two hours, after a fire broke out shortly after 7pm on Friday night.

Both Fire Rescue Victoria and Aviation Firefighting and Rescue Services responded to the fire in Terminal 1.

A Melbourne Airport spokesperson said the fire was able to be completely extinguished quickly and didn’t spread to other terminals.

“Following a fire in Terminal 1 earlier this evening, emergency services have cleared the terminal as safe to partially reopen and for operations to recommence,” the spokesperson said just after 9pm.

“We are now supporting passengers as they return to the terminal and operations resume … The safety of passengers and staff is our top priority right now … we thank travellers for their patience and co-operation throughout the disruption.”

More than 1500 people were evacuated from the Melbourne Airport terminal. Picture: Jacqui Felgate

Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus. Picture: Jason Edwards

Flights were delayed after the fire.

A queue of 11 planes could be seen on the tarmac at the domestic terminal at 9pm Flightradar24 reported, with Qantas passengers who had recently landed in Melbourne stranded on the tarmac while the scene was made safe.

An FRV spokesperson said it was called to the scene about 7.14pm and managed to locate a small fire within the terminal and have it under control by 7.39pm.

Originally published as Melbourne Airport fire sparks travel chaos as flights delayed