Western suburbs advocacy body Lead West has demanded Brooklyn industries be cleaned up following a major fire at a scrap metal recycling plant which took ten hours to extinguish yesterday.
“Brooklyn is no longer out the back beyond the ‘burbs. It must be cleaned up,” LeadWest tweeted last night.
Fire investigators will assess what caused the fire which was eventually put out at 2.40am this morning after the Metropolitan Fire Brigade used a large crane and hook to pull apart the burning pile.
Trucks were first deployed around 4.30pm yesterday to Sims Metal on McDonald Road with almost 100 firefighters and 26 trucks called to the fire.
Brimbank suburbs of Brooklyn, Braybrook, Sunshine and Sunshine West were affected by smoke with residents urged to close their windows and doors and turn off their air conditioners.
Brimbank council candidate Simon Antonio Vallone said local industries needed to clean up its act.
“When will there be action taken against the industries that pollute our homes?
“We’re not asking them to move we just want them to clean up their act and to stop making our suburb smell like a chemical waste facility!”
The MFB issued a watch and act notice for a one kilometre radius around the fire.
An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said it had been on standby for several hours in case residents needed assistance for smoke inhalation.
Kings Park fire
It follows a suspicious house fire in Kings Park on Saturday morning around 1am which caused around $500,000 worth of damage.
Police are investigating.
With The Age
