Demolition begins on site of ‘once-in-adecade’ Sydney fire with sniffer dogs to search wreckage
Painstaking demolition work has begun on a century-old Sydney hat factory after it was destroyed in a once-in-adecade blaze, as police speak with a fourth teenage boy over the incident.
Specialists operating heavy machinery began the difficult process of knocking down what is left of the seven-storey, 1910s-era brick building in inner-city Surry Hills on Tuesday.
NSW police say they have spoken with a fourth boy over the incident after three other young teens spoke with police after the massive fire last week.
“Detectives have identified and spoken to four teenage boys as they continue to appeal for anyone else to come forward,” a police spokesperson said. “No charges have been laid at this time.”
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Adam Dewberry, a superintendent at NSW Fire and Rescue, said the demolition plan could be reworked throughout the day if contractors encountered problems.
Two large excavators began picking over the rubble as Fire and Rescue’s major structural collapse urban search and rescue unit truck arrived.
Piles of bricks from the building’s collapsed walls at the front facade, and a burnt-out ute parked on the street will also be removed.
A 60-tonne excavator will be used to demolish unstable side brick walls from a safe distance. The site needs to be made safe before it can be thoroughly inspected and residents in neighbouring buildings can return home.
“We want to make sure everyone remains safe but we also don’t want to cause any damage to adjoining structures and utilities that are in and around and under the road,” Dewberry told 2GB.
“We’ve got gas mains underneath, we’ve got electricity and water, so we just need to make sure we don’t cause any more problems.”
The site will then be handed over to police to allow arson squad investigators and cadaver-detection dogs to examine the scene for any human remains or evidence as rubble is removed.
“While police have not received any reports of missing people, investigators are unable to definitively say there is no one inside,” NSW police have said.
The brick and timber building was known to regularly house 15 rough sleepers – and two remain unaccounted for.
It burned down last Thursday evening, closing streets, diverting public transport and displacing more than 100 people who live in the vicinity. Welfare services will continue to update displaced residents.
The brick hat factory was built in 1912 and operated until 1954 when proprietor RC Henderson went into liquidation. The property was later leased to individual tenants in the 1960s through to the 2010s, and plans were afoot for a $40m redevelopment of the site into a 123-room hotel.