More than 48 hours after a gigantic blaze pulverised the Lindesay Street service station there’s a steady stream of people checking out the devastation.
And just after 11am this morning they are joined by a team of fire investigators who open the security gate and start to slowly sift through the ashes, the rubble and the molten metal.
Hopefully they will find the cause of the blaze, which broke out around 10pm on Friday night at the Campbelltown service station.
It took 15 crews more than an hour to bring the fire under control and to prevent any risk of it spreading to homes or the shops right next to the service station.
Teams from Campbelltown, which is around the corner in Broughton Street, St Andrews, Rosemeadow, Narellan, Camden, Macquarie Fields, Busby, Revesby, Yennora, Riverwood, Chester Hill, Liverpool and Kogarah were among those that responded to the call on the fire.
The firefighters arrived on the scene to be confronted with a large fire burning out of control through the petrol station complex, involving a petrol tanker, numerous cars, the petrol bowsers, gas cylinders and the station building itself.
As firefighters began to attack the fire, they were faced with intense flames bursting into the air along with numerous large and violent explosions.
As the fire progressed, part of the building suffered a major collapse, with the outside portion of the petrol station crashing onto the tanker and cars.
As the situation continued to escalate, heavy fire began to impact onto surrounding businesses and houses, with the nearest retailer, BWS, taking the brunt of the smoke damage.
Despite the obvious risks involved, firefighters in breathing apparatus worked to aggressively attack the fire.
They used hose streams to prevent the gas tanks from exploding, which would have been a catastrophic outcome for all concerned.
After the fire was brought under control the fire crews turned their attention to the complex operation of extinguishing fire in the remainder of the collapsed building.
It took most of the night to complete the task.
To look at the devastation now it’s hard to believe that nobody was injured and there was no serious property damage to homes and shops.
And that’s probably what’s going through the minds of those who have driven up to see with their own eyes what utter destruction fire can cause.
