Police say there is no cause for concern after loud explosion sounds were heard coming from BlueScope Steel in Port Kembla at 9am on Saturday morning.
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Lake Illawarra police said that no one was hurt or injured and believed the noise was caused by a build up of pressure in one of the blast furnaces.
Residents from suburbs across Wollongong reported hearing up to six or seven extremely loud explosions which "sounded like fighter jets", while others saw plumes of dark smoke and flames shooting up into the sky.
However, Australian Workers Union Port Kembla branch secretary Wayne Phillips reassured residents the noise and smoke was caused by a burning off of materials which had built up after the furnace had been shut down for repair work for a couple of days.
"There's a safety system that comes into play when there's a build up," Mr Phillips said.
"It's a measure to prevent explosions and it was actually just the gas burning off."
"It worked effectively, and although it doesn't get used very often, luckily, it is just a normal part of the operations."
"No one was hurt, there's no damage and it worked well - so people don't need to worry."
Fire crews from four stations initially responded to reports of the explosion, however this was quickly downgraded.
