One of Brisbane's major highways has reopened after being closed in both directions over a large industrial fire in the city's east early in the morning. The blaze broke out at an industrial site and proved serious enough to disrupt a key route across the city, before crews managed to bring the situation under control and traffic was allowed to flow again.
According to the report, fire crews were called to the industrial site at around three in the morning following reports of a large industrial fire. It took about 50 crews to bring the blaze under control, a task they completed in roughly two hours, which authorities described as relatively quick work given the circumstances they were facing.
The complicating factor was the nature of the site itself, which is understood to be a chemical storage facility. In the early stages, fire crews were not sure exactly what chemicals were being burnt, an uncertainty that added to the risk as the fire produced a large amount of acrid smoke drifting from the property.
That smoke was blowing over the Gateway Motorway, which sits just down the hill from the site, and the danger it posed led authorities to close the motorway for some time. With one of Brisbane's main arteries shut, the closure had the potential to cause significant traffic delays right across the city during the morning.
As the response continued, fire crews were able to identify that it was pesticides that were burning at the facility. That discovery was a major concern, as it raised the prospect of a potential health hazard for people living in the surrounding area, sharpening the urgency of containing both the flames and the smoke they were generating.
In response, police declared an exclusion zone around the site, a measure that caused considerable disruption in the Murarrie area. Residents reported having to wait long periods of time before they were able to leave and get to work, as the precautionary cordon kept people away from the affected streets while crews worked.
Once crews managed to bring the smoke under control and dampen it down, the exclusion zone was lifted, and with the smoke no longer blowing across the Gateway Motorway the highway was reopened. Crews remained on site working to contain a chemical spill rolling down the hill, and said they believed they were getting on top of it, hoping to have the site cleared within a couple of hours.