Dramatic Sydney Blaze Consumes Seven-storey Building

Sydney, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th May, 2023 ) :More than 130 firefighters battled towering flames and thick smoke Thursday as a huge blaze consumed an unoccupied seven-storey building in central Sydney.

The flames appeared to be dying down as firefighters poured in water from multiple hoses two hours after the fire took hold in the vacant building near the Central Station railway hub.

"We're on top of the fire but it's still burning," NSW Fire and Rescue superintendent Adam Dewberry told AFP, explaining that a "significant structural collapse" made it too dangerous for firefighters to enter.

More than 130 firefighters and 30 fire trucks were at the scene, he said, dousing the blaze from the ground, ladder trucks and crane-like aerial ladder trucks.

"It looks like we have stopped the fire spreading to adjoining occupied buildings, which is good news," Dewberry said.

"But the main fire building is destroyed," he said.

The fire had also spread into another "abandoned and derelict" three-storey building, he said.

Shortly after the blaze erupted, flames almost as high as the building itself could be seen shooting into the sky.

The entire top floor wall leaned over and crashed in pieces into the street below, fire service video showed, as the building glowed orange with flames.

The carcass of a burning van was parked in front.

One firefighter suffered a minor burn on his right arm but did not need hospital treatment, the fire service said.

Firefighting would extend throughout the night, it said.