Warehouse Fire Spreads To Homes

A FIRE IN AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE WENT TO 12 ALARMS in Camden, New Jersey, Thursday evening.

NBC News

The fire was first reported around 4:30 pm and when the FD arrived they found a 3-story warehouse structure well involved and starting to spread into neighboring houses. As more alarms were struck and several neighboring fire departments were called in to assist, there were serious water supply problems because all of the hydrants in the area had been vandalized by brass thieves.  Most of the water was supplied by drafting from the nearby Delaware River, so fire flow was limited.

Fox News

The fire quickly extended to another vacant building and then into a group of row houses. Adding to the challenge was the outdoor temperatures that were in the upper 90's.

Philadelphia Inquirer

After five hours, the fire was finally declared under control at 9 pm. By then at least ten houses had been damaged or destroyed by the fire. It has not been determined yet how many were occupied as there are several vacant homes in the area.  So far, at least 12 families are being assisted by the Red Cross.

The building where the fire started was last occupied by a tire distributorship that relocated to the suburbs in 2009. It has been derelict since including some nearby buildings owned by the Board of Education that were also vacant.

The large building at the corner of Ross and Orchard Streets is the  warehouse
where the fire began.  It eventually damaged or destroyed all other buildings
within that perimeter and started some grass fires two blocks away at
the Old Camden Cemetery.

This raw video taken from NBC's helicopter shows the ranging effects of the fire and can be compared with the satellite image just above:

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

Fox News reports:

There's a growing dispute between firefighters, who say water pressure hampered their ability to battle the blaze, and city officials downplaying the problem – despite a news release last week urging citizens not to open fire hydrants because it was causing a water shortage.

The firefighters' union also says departmental cutbacks limited the second wave of responders arriving on scene until the fire had already spread.

Fox News photo

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Fire Brigade Forced to Let It Burn

Update, Friday am:  Fire continues to burn, perhaps for 3 more days.  Updated report, more photos and video added.  Scroll down.

A FIRE THAT IS BEING CALLED "THE WORST IN MEMORY" by veteran firefighters is still burning out of control in Victoria, Australia.  The fire in an oil plant started around 8 pm local time Thursday night at the TriTech Lubricants factory in Dandenong South, just outside Melbourne. 

The Age photo

The facility makes petroleum-based motor oils and lubricants and the fire has effectively destroyed the entire complex.

Burning oil runs across the concrete yard.  (CFA photo)

Fueling the fire is the 700,000 liters of flammable liquids contained in storage tanks that have been exploding and keeping the fire going.  The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is being assisted by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade from Melbourne and they expect to still be fighting the blaze through most of Friday.  Shortly after sunrise, the fire was declared contained.

This video shows the extent of the fire:

The Age is reporting:

A CFA spokesman said the fire was a huge headache for firefighters because it could not be fought with water, which would have worsened the blaze.

Foam was also a problem because it would have polluted the local area and caused an environmental hazard, the spokesman said. A small amount of foam was used to stop the blaze spreading to surrounding factories in the industrial area, including a nearby glass factory which housed dangerous chemicals.

The blaze destroyed the factory and was threatening massive 20-metre-high drums containing flammable liquid, the spokesman said.

Herald Sun

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but the fire official on the scene at command stated that he believes it may have started in the office area.

Sources:
Melbourne Herald Sun
Sydney Morning Herald
The Age

Update, Friday am:
It is now Friday night in Melbourne and the fire crews that numbered up to 130 firefighters have successfully contained the fire to the oil plant.  Primary efforts have been to protect the  other industrial occupancies next to it while the thousands of gallons of oils burn off with the occasional rocketing drum.  ABC News reports:

Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokesman Trevor Owen says fireballs raced across the night sky as the blaze ignited 500,000 litres of mineral oils inside the Williams Road factory at Dandenong South.

"A number of those containers have split and flown up into the air with some quite large fireballs into the sky," he said.

"This is a significant fire that we're dealing with. To extinguish it will be quite difficult and I reckon we'll be here for a couple of days blacking out."

Country Fire Authority photos

While the bulk of the fire has been knocked down, it continues to burn.  One of the exposure hazards was a hydrogen pipeline that feeds a neighboring glass factory.  However, the CFA  was already aware of it from pre-planning and shut the line down at the beginning of the fire operations.

Thanks to Darren V. for assistance.

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