The toxic chemical blaze which started in a West Footscray factory, in Melbourne's west, on August 30, and took firefighters 17 hours to bring under control, has provoked such widespread anger that the state government has been forced to intervene.
The thick black clouds of smoke which covered the area could be seen from Geelong.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) it had been fuelled by drums of acetone and scrap metal. Schools were forced to close, or keep children indoors. Firefighters were at great risk, given the exploding acetylene which is used in welding.
MFB that at its height more than 140 firefighters were engaged in fighting the fire, which was about 14,000 square metres in size.
On September 3, the Environment Protection Authority, Victoria, was to protect their pets and themselves, by avoiding eating or being near any dead fish in Stony Creek and the upper parts of the bay. It also set up pumps to try and rid the creek of contaminated water.
The fire was still smouldering on September 4, with firefighters having to hose down hot spots.
The factory鈥檚 owner is by the Australian Taxation Office for 鈥減hoenix activity鈥 鈥 when a new company is created to continue the business of a company that has been deliberately liquidated to avoid paying its debts, including taxes, creditors and employee entitlements.
The MFB on September 1, that its specialist investigators had referred the fire to the Victorian Police 鈥渂ased on evidence which indicates that the cause of the fire may be suspicious鈥.
While an exclusion zone was put in placed in surrounding suburbs, including as far away as Port Melbourne, transport workers were still being sent to do deliveries
Furious residents attended an emergency meeting called by Maribyrnong Council on August 30.
A Yarraville resident said that the factories in the industrial precinct were a 鈥渢ime bomb waiting to happen鈥, according to the Maribyrnong Star Weekly. 鈥淭his area of Brooklyn and Tottenham is a no man鈥檚 land 鈥 anything goes,鈥 he said.
鈥淭hese wool stores were built back in the 1950s. They have been sublet and there鈥檚 a whole lot of spurious items in there. We don鈥檛 know.鈥
After calls to audit the factories, the state government to industrial sites in West Footscray and identified almost 70 dangerous goods breaches.
Former Greens MP Colleen Hartland of the incident: 鈥淛ust because we live in an industrial area doesn鈥檛 mean that our safety should be put at risk鈥.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined.