Samuel's Blog

Fire at the Bega Flats in Reid

May 3rd, 2010 at 06:48pm

There is currently a fire at the Bega Flats in Reid. The Fire Brigade have used a crane to evacuate residents from the block. Cooyong Street is currently blocked in both directions between Boolee Street and Akuna Street while the Fire Brigade work on extinguishing the fire, which appears to be contained to the inside of one unit at this time.

I have some dodgy photos from my phone, and am about to head back with a real camera. More details and photos shortly.

Update: The fire is out and nobody was hurt. The fire appears to have been in a unit on the lowest of the three floors and appears to have been unoccupied. The block of units is cordoned off while the fire brigade check each unit, and Cooyong Street remains blocked at this time, with diversions in place at the Akuna Street and Boolee Street intersections.

Somewhat amusingly, the press corp arrived just as I was leaving. They missed out on all the excitement.

Photos to follow in a few minutes. My phone needs a quick charge before it will be up to the task of handing over photos.
End Update

Update: The security guard may have led me astray. It turns out from a more credible witness that the police tackled and arrested somebody before I got there the first time. I can’t work out whether it was one person or multiple people. I also don’t know if the arrested person(s) is/are the occupant of the unit. End Update

Update: Photos. Unfortunately the photos taken on my phone were the only photos from when something interesting was happening, and unfortunately those photos are awful. The photos from my real camera are fine, but not much of interest happened in those photos.

Starting from the top, and the first shot is of the scene from the carpark entrance between Akuna Street and Ainslie Avenue. The floodlight on the Fire Brigade truck was not helpful.

Some onlookers, most from nearby blocks, standing on Cooyong Street.

A pretty bad shot, partially due to smoke. A fireman on a ladder getting somebody out of one of the units above the fire.

The overview of the scene from Glebe Park. There are more fire brigade and police vehicles behind the wall, and along Cooyong Street out of shot. Around this time, a fireman came over and connected a hose to a ground-level fire hydrant on the Glebe Park block.

The crane is lifted.

It was at this point in time, with my phone battery dying and an inability to get a decent photo, that I rushed back home with Nattie, collected my real camera and drove back to the scene. Unfortunately by then, the excitement was over, however I was able to get some more decipherable photos.

The scene looking down the Bega Flats carpark from the Boolee Street entrance.

Cooyong Street from near the Boolee Street intersection.

The crane.

The crane and a conference of firemen..

As far as I can tell, the fire was in the unit at the lower right of the this picture.

The scene from a bit beyond the Akuna Street intersection.

The scene from the Ainslie Avenue end of the carpark.

The best I could do to get a shot of the building from this side without the floodlight getting in the way. Yes, that is the head of a police officer behind the wall.

It’s hard to tell without a better overview of the entire block of apartments, but I think the crane is pointed directly at the unit which contained the fire.

Another shot from the Boolee Street end of the Cooyong Street median strip.

The scene from the other side of the building. The lower-left unit is the one which I believe the fire was in. On the stairs, some firemen can be seen going to one of the other units to inspect it.

Firemen leave the building and discuss things with their colleagues.

They’re not the best shots in the world, but there wasn’t much to photograph. As usual, fair use applies to these photos. You may use them for whatever purpose you see fit, provided you attribute the photos to me, Samuel Gordon-Stewart. If using them online, a link back to this blog would be appreciated, but is not mandatory. If you wish to use these photos without attribution, please contact me and I might be willing to provide permission.

End Update

Update: From the Emergency Services Agency website:

8:00pm Monday 3 May 2010 – Update two on fire in Reid The ACT Ambulance Service has taken a middle aged female and a young male to Calvary Hospital in a stable condition with minor smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire is to be investigated.
7:20pm Monday 3 May 2010 – Update on fire at Reid Fire in a first floor apartment extinguished with extensive damage to the unit and smoke damage to the surrounds.

A total of 18 apartments were evacuated with firefighters using ladders and the Bronto for some occupants.

ACT Ambulance Service Intensive Care Paramedics assessing a number of people for smoke inhalation.
6:45pm Monday 3 May 2010 – Fire in apartment complex in Reid The ACT Fire Brigade is on scene at a fire in the Bega Flats complex in Kogarah Lane Reid tonight.

Firefighters have evacuated residents from the building.

Update to follow.

It will be interesting to hear what the cause of the blaze was. For now though I’m just glad that everyone is (relatively speaking) OK.
End Update

Samuel

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