The city's fire boss has described how extreme clutter and "junk" at a burning West Wollongong home badly hindered the efforts of dozens of firefighters.
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Infrared drone images have revealed the scale of the emergency at the labyrinthine Highway Avenue home, where the fire remained out of control for several hours on Wednesday afternoon, threatening neighbouring properties and shutting down parts of the city.
Hotspots continued to smoulder at the site on Thursday, visible on heat cameras but hidden under multiple collapsed structures. Some of more than 50 firefighters remained at the property, in case of flare-ups.
Fire and Rescue NSW's Illawarra Zone Commander, Superintendent Peter Church, said crews had to cut into 12-foot high sheet metal fencing before they could get onto the property and begin assessing the fire.
"Crews had difficulty gaining access into the property because of what could be called junk," he said. "There were disused objects strewn all over the property - in the house, around the back.
"When they did get access, they they couldn't enter the property because there was so much rubbish and disused objects. There were a dozen mowers, and push bikes and motorbikes and obsolete machinery - a whole range of different things.
"So the fire, by the time our crews got access to the rear, had already extended from the house itself to out back.
"A lot of the public may not appreciate the complexity and the size of it, and probably they were asking questions: 'why did it go for go on for so long?'. The block itself was 2400 square metres ... and pretty much that whole half acre was junk."
Firefighters were forced to remain at the fire's perimeter out of concern gas bottles on the site would explode. Neighbours reported hearing several small explosions throughout the afternoon and evening.
Recently qualified Fire and Rescue NSW drone pilots from Thirroul Fire Station produced pictures showing where the fire's hidden hotspots remained.
Crews also relied on a newly-arrived CAFS (Compressed Air Foam Systems) tank, which arrived at Corrimal Fire Station several weeks ago, to keep the fire under control. The tanks dispenses environmentally-sound firefighting foam.
"The foam penetrates into crevices, to where there are hotspots," Supt Church said.
Firefighters are are urging home owners to keep their properties neat and tidy to guard against similar "rapid escalation" emergencies in future.
"Use council services to dispose of any junk," Supt Church said. "And obviously, also have some working smoke alarms as well."
Supt Church said the blaze appeared to have started in or near the kitchen, but the house was so badly damaged, the cause of the fire would like never be known.