Dozens of schools and childcare centres have been closed as toxic smoke billows across Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Emergency services were called to a factory fire near the corner of Somerville and Paramount roads at West Footscray just after 5am on Thursday to find it fully alight.
Authorities still aren’t sure what’s burning inside the 100 x 200 metre building.
A watch and act message has been issued for Altona North, Braybrook, Brooklyn, Footscray, Kingsville, South Kingsville, Spotswood, Sunshine, Tottenham, West Footscray and Yarraville.
MFB Acting Deputy Chief Officer Ken Brown said the smoke was toxic but not at dangerous levels.
“I’ll reinforce that all smoke is toxic, and if people are inside the plume they shouldn’t be there, they should avoid it at all costs,” he said.
“We are trying really hard to minimise the exposure of the smoke and do our best to make sure we monitor the effects of this fire on the community.
“We are working with the EPA and are looking at the monitoring stations. We’ve also got our scientific officers and hazmat technicians going around, with crews visiting schools and taking readings.
“We’ve had no spike outside the area that we are concerned about at the moment but with the weather moving in and changing we’ve got to start looking at strategy to minimise as much smoke impact on community over the next couple of hours.”
Asked whether asbestos was a worry, Mr Brown said it wasn’t a concern at present.
“It’s not the asbestos particles, it’s the particles of dust that sit in there, what we call PM2.5 particle matter. That’s the product of combustion that are actually burning in the cloud,” he said.
He did not say what kind of factory the building was, but said the owner and occupier were both working with authorities to determine exactly what was inside.
At least 27 primary schools and another 27 early childhood centres have been closed, while other schools across the western suburbs are keeping children indoors.
“As a precautionary measure, the Department of Education is conducting an orderly closure of 13 government schools and 27 early childhood centres in the area directly impacted by the West Footscray fire,” a spokesman said.
“We understand a further 14 Catholic schools are also closing. We have asked parents to pick up their children from these sites if possible. These schools and centres will remain open for children whose parents are unable to pick them up.
The fire has been categorised as a eighth alarm, which he compared to the same size as the fire at the Coolaroo recycling plant last year.
Anyone within 500 metres of the blaze has been advised to take shelter indoors.
One caller to 3AW said the sound was like “rolling thunder with explosions in between”.
Brooklyn resident Toby Bell told Fairfax he woke to the sound of small explosions.
“I woke up to a popping noise. I initially thought it was gunshots or something like that. So I went outside and could see a lot of red haze [in the] sky, so I jumped in the car and followed the noises and they led me right to the factory,” he said.
“I then watched up to at least 15 fire trucks race to the location. When I left and went home I could still hear emergency services racing there.”
A Paramount Road business owner David McKelson said he couldn’t handle the smoke after 15 minutes.
“The smoke is so thick and I was there for about 15 minutes, and you can already hear it in my voice,” he said.
“I closed the business for the day, my concern is that the smoke could be toxic.
The South Kingsville resident said the smoke was also floating over his house.
“The amount of smoke coming out the top of the sheds, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s been constant since I’ve been up at 6.30am.”
The MFB is advising people in the vicinity to turn off heating and cooling, keep pets inside and close exterior doors, windows and vents.
People away from home are advised not to return and motorists are asked to keep roads clear for emergency services.
Paramount Road, between Geelong and McDonald roads, has been blocked off.
