Demolition works will begin on Tuesday at the building on Randle St in Surry Hills as police simultaneously use the cadaver detection dogs to detect anyone who may have been killed in the blaze last Thursday.
Police and firefighters are still on scene at the wreckage of a large building fire on Randle St,Sydney CBD.Dion Georgopoulos
NSW Police said while they had not received reports of missing people,those investigating the blaze said they could also not rule it out. Police will also undertake forensic imaging as sections of the rubble are removed.
Homeless people had been reported as living in the building,while from inside the heritage listed derelict former hat factory which was set to be turned into a hotel as part of a $38 million redevelopment.
Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja said police hold grave fears for two unaccounted for homeless people known to frequent the area.
“I don’t have their identities,I just have a description of them,but we need to do the best we can do to account for these people,” the arson unit commander said.
Fire and Rescue is providing an update at the scene of the Surry Hills fire.
“We can’t rule out that there are people in that rubble,we can’t rule it out.“
Arbinja said police have spoken with three male children,two aged 13,one aged 12,and expect to speak with a fourth soon.
“It would be harrowing for them,of course,but their parents are with them or a support person,” he said.
It’s possible,Arbinja added,the children will be criminally charged.
A clean-up operation is now underway to prepare for demolitions following a large building fire in Surry Hills last week.Police Media
“We know they were inside the building but those investigations are ongoing,” he said.
“At this stage we’re not going to reveal what they’ve actually said.”
An exclusion has been set up around the building,which includes neighbouring apartment buildings. At least 100 people have registered with welfare services as being displaced from their accommodation by the blaze.
NSW Fire and Rescue workers spray water onto the destroyed building.Kate Geraghty
“Once the site is rendered safe,further assessments will be undertaken by contactors and engineers to determine whether the remaining structure will be salvageable,” NSW Police said in a statement.
“Occupants – including residential and business – of nearby properties are advised to close windows and external doors while this work is carried out as dust and debris is expected during these operations.”
Fire and Rescue NSW said on site engineers and experts from NSW Public Works said there was no asbestos risk to the community due to the fire.
The NSW government’s Engineering Emergency Management director Martin Dwyer said it was unlikely the bricks from the building could be recycled because of a small asbestos risk they posed.
“There’s likely to be a problem with recycling of the bricks because it is almost certain that some of the roof was fibro,” he said.
The Surry Hills building ablaze on Thursday night.Nine News
“So the bricks and rubble will be considered asbestos contaminated,so no recycling. A pity really but not much you can do about it.”
Authorities are unable to predict when roads and surrounding buildings will reopen.
Firefighters have been removing windows from surrounding buildings because the extremely high temperatures from the fire meant they were unstable and could crash to the ground.
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry said the priority was to get people back into their homes as soon as possible,however because of the complicated city system,he did not want to make the situation worse,which is why detailed planning was necessary.
Randle Street in Surry Hills still remains closed after the fire.Jessica Hromas
“We’ve also got to consider the essential services that are under the road being a major gas line that supplies the city and electricity,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we don’t make the situation worse by rupturing it or causing this building that’s got unsafe walls for those parts to collapse on top of other unaffected buildings.”
Chalmers Street remains closed from the Cleveland Street intersection to Central Station,along with all of Randle Street. Elizabeth Street is also closed southbound between Eddy Avenue and Devonshire Street. A number of small alleyways near the site are also blocked.
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