Fire crews throughout Sydney were kept busy today after an electrical fire took hold in the de-commissioned Sydney Water building in Bathurst St, Sydney.
At around 9.55am, Fire & Rescue NSW responded to an automatic fire alarm, with supporting triple zero calls that an electrical fire was present.
Crews arrived within minutes and immediately upgraded their commitment to tackle the blaze.
Within an hour, the response was upgraded to an 8th Alarm.
Crews were subjected to extreme heat, no visibility and heavy smoke throughout the basement levels. It's understood the fire started in an electrical substation, located in the basement levels of the building.
Ausgrid attended and worked with fire crews to isolate the power, however the old and complicated power grid could not guarantee isolation. Due to the risk of electrocution, crews could only tackle the blaze with carbon dioxide and limited water spray.
Over 100 fire-fighters attended the blaze, working in single 5-6 minute shifts.
Thermal imaging cameras became useless due to the consistently high temperatures in the basement levels.
With no visibility, fire crews had to follow the path of hose lines to find their way in and out.
Fire & Rescue Commissioner, Greg Mullins said that it was a difficult and dangerous operation, as the building was under construction and part of the basement level floors had collapsed or had been removed during demolition.
Adding to the complication, there were fears that asbestos was present near the fire. Safety precautions shut down the surrounding area to pedestrians.
Incident commander, Superintendent Peter Stathis said it was an extremely difficult and dangerous operation, however fire crews had managed to contain the fire within the basement levels.
Around 40 workers were evacuated and there were no injuries.
The cause of the blaze is being investigated.
Traffic in and around the CBD is hoped to return to normal by peak hour.
Traffic diversions can be monitored at www.livetraffic.com.au