The fire at Brookvale that caused large thick black plumes of acrid smoke to billow into the sky is now under control after an hour of firefighters fighting the blaze.
Around 5:22pm, Fire and Rescue NSW received 40 triple zero calls reporting the fire and Fire and Rescue NSW responded with 12 fire trucks and 40 firefighters.
Rhino Laminating (42 Orchard Road, Brookvale), a surfboard glassing and manufacturer warehouse was ablaze as fire units from Manly, Narrabeen, Dee Why, Mosman, Forestville, Neutral Bay, Alexandria and Mona Vale arrived.
“It took about an hour to get the fire under control, and it continues to smoulder in some areas,” a Fire and Rescue spokesperson said.
“We were concerned with this fire spreading into adjoining factories that we were able to cut that off.
“An additional hazard we’re working with is the firefighting water runoff. We’re working with EPA and we have our specialist hazardous materials response technicians on scene.
They are putting booms, hydrocarbons and absorbent booms across Greendale Creek. We will also test the water and work with EPA and Council on this.”
Fire and Rescue NSW said they have no information at this stage on how the fire started, but they are continuing to mop up and black out hidden hot spots that continue to flare up.
NSW Ambulance confirmed they were called at 5:20pm to attend a fire and assessed a teenage boy with minor burns to his hands.
He was transported to Royal North Shore in a stable condition, and despite reports that he was treated for smoke inhalation, NSW Ambulance confirmed he had no breathing issues.
The blaze broke out before 5:30pm and the cause of the fire is unknown.
Police are treating the scene as a crime scene, which is standard protocol while the cause of the fire is investigated.
