‘Outstanding job’: Firefighters brave brutal conditions to contain industrial blaze

FIREFIGHTERS have been praised for their extraordinary efforts in containing a towering industrial blaze in Wagga, after an inferno tore through a scrap metal and wrecking yard on Saturday and sent a colossal plume of smoke billowing across the city.

Crews battled for hours in furnace-like conditions to bring the fire under control, after it broke out just before 1pm on Fernleigh Road at Ashmont as the city sweltered through its seventh consecutive day above 40°C.

The fire is believed to have started within a pile of scrap metal before rapidly intensifying and spreading into a neighbouring wrecking yard.

Photo: Facebook/Wagga Now

Photo: Facebook/Wagga Now

Fuelled by strong winds and oppressive heat, flames leapt the nearby rail corridor and ignited grassland on the other side near Bulolo Avenue and Tarakan Avenue.

With temperatures soaring to 44°C and wind gusts reaching 50km/h, veteran firefighters described the heat from the fire as the harshest they’ve ever faced.

Despite the extreme conditions, the fire was brought under control thanks to a coordinated and large-scale emergency response involving multiple agencies and more than 20 firefighting appliances.

Eight Fire and Rescue NSW pumpers were deployed from Wagga, Junee, Gundagai and Albury, while 14 NSW Rural Fire Service tankers were dispatched from across the region.

Photo: Supplied/Khero Khero

Photo: Facebook/Wagga Now

Photo: Facebook/Wagga Now

Crews worked side-by-side across several active fronts, with FRNSW personnel in breathing apparatus attacking the heart of the industrial fire, while RFS teams focused on halting the spread of the grass fire and protecting neighbouring businesses and infrastructure.

Excavators were used to break apart smouldering piles of debris, while ladder trucks poured water from above.

Photo: Fire and Rescue NSW

Photo: Fire and Rescue NSW

At the height of the fire, a dense column of toxic black smoke rose high into the sky and could be seen from as far away as Junee — more than 40 kilometres from the scene.

A fire tower on Mount Flakney, 30 kilometres south of Wagga, first detected the smoke at 1:02pm, moments after the blaze broke out.

Within minutes, social media was inundated with footage and photos from shocked onlookers as the scale of the incident became apparent.

Photos: Mark Murray

Photos: (left) Tori Lipscombe; (right) Bobbi Keevers

Police closed roads surrounding the fireground and the rail corridor was temporarily shut to allow crews to operate safely.

Residents were urged to remain indoors and keep their doors and windows closed, with paramedics also stationed nearby as a precaution.

Fortunately, no homes were damaged and no injuries were reported.

Photo: Peter Heffernan

By around 3pm, after nearly two hours of sustained firefighting, the thick black smoke began to turn white — a visible sign that crews were gaining the upper hand.

But it would take many more hours to fully extinguish the fire, with crews remaining on site until around 9.45pm to mop up hotspots and monitor flare-ups.

Photo: Facebook/Wagga Now

Photo: Facebook/Wagga Now

The brutal conditions lingered long into the evening — it was still a searing 40°C at 7pm, six hours after the fire started, with temperatures easing only slightly to 35°C by 10pm.

In a public statement, Fire and Rescue NSW Station 480 Wagga Wagga praised the collective effort of all involved, describing the response as “outstanding”.

While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, authorities say it is not being treated as suspicious.