At about 9.00am on Thursday 13 July 2017, Metropolitan Fire Brigade firefighters were called to the SKM Industries recycling plant in Coolaroo, in Melbourne’s north. Over 130 firefighters worked to bring a blaze in stockpiled paper and plastics under control – the fourth fire at the site in 2017. This fire was made worse by unfavourable strong northerly winds.
Victoria’s Country Fire Authority and fire agencies from South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory deployed support in the form of firefighters, bulk water tankers equipped with compressed air foam systems (CAFS), and a turbine-aided firefighting robot.
Due to air quality concerns, evacuation advice was issued for approximately 115 Dallas properties to the south of the plant; 22 people evacuated. A number of businesses were also evacuated in addition to the SKM plant workers. Forty-one people attended the community relief centre established in nearby Broadmeadows. Eight people were treated for breathing difficulties; five were hospitalised. By late afternoon the following day, residents were advised that it was safe to return to their homes.
As the fire continued to burn over the following days, low oxygen levels in nearby waterways killed dozens of fish, and an E. coli warning was issued.
The fire took three weeks to extinguish. In that time, an estimated 140 million litres of water contaminated by run-off from the site was pumped from a nearby creek into the sewerage system, and 30,000 tonnes of fire- and water-contaminated waste was removed to an Environment Protection Authority (EPA)-licensed landfill at Bulla.
The fire raised questions around appropriate land zoning, given the growth of population and residential housing in proximity to industrial areas. The event also caused significant frustration in the community; a class action suit is progressing to seek damages in relation to health, financial and other impacts.
The EPA had been scheduled to visit the SKM Coolaroo site on the day the fire started. The EPA continued to monitor air quality in Coolaroo and Dallas for several days after the fire.
SKM welcomed the establishment of a government taskforce to seek solutions to the issue of stockpiling materials. The company said it had been storing materials against standard practice due to lost capacity from a fire earlier in the year.