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Firefighters were showered with chunks of concrete and building debris as they battled a volcano-like fire at a chemical recycling plant.
The inferno erupted in Sydney, Australia on Saturday night local time and was described as a ‘once in a career type of experience’ by fire crews.
A fireball burst 500ft (150m) into the air and spewed blocks of material into the sky.
One storage tank shot away like a projectile and landed 200 metres away, just short of a railway line.
Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said: ‘I have never seen anything like that, to that degree.
‘I’ve had firefighters today tell me they’ve been in the job for almost forty years and had never seen an explosion fire so big, so it was very significant.’
More than 200 firefighters rushed to Kurrajong Street as the fire took hold before 11pm.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services, the blaze grew rapidly and exploded shortly after.
Two firefighters were injured as chemicals seeped through gloves.
Fewtrell said: ‘There was a large amount of debris that got showered down on the firefighters, as well as clumps of bricks and concrete that have been blown apart from the explosion.
‘We had walls — the boundary walls of the adjoining properties — blown in, and then we had firefighters in a very intensive fire fight inside the neighbouring premises trying to stop the fire from penetrating those breaches.’
The fire, which destroyed the building by late Sunday afternoon, is one of the biggest seen in the region in years.
The walls of the neighbouring business have also been ‘blown apart’, although the inside was saved by firefighters.
A 200m exclusion zone was also set up around the area and residents were urged to close their windows and vents to avoid harmful smoke getting inside.
It is not yet known what sparked the blaze, with police launching an investigation.
Hazardous material crews remain on the scene.
Commissioner Fewtrell added: ‘Over the course of today and coming days the fire investigators and police will be compiling all that information and to make an assessment on how this may have started.
‘It may be that we’re not able to, we’ll just see what evidence and information is available, piece it all together with the work of fire investigators and police to try and come to a determination on the cause.’
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