ACT, NSW crews get Beard industrial fire under control overnight
Updated
An industrial fire that burned about 1,000 square metres in the ACT suburb of Beard overnight is under control, with authorities treating it as suspicious.
Fire and rescue crews were called out to a scrap metal and tyre yard near the ACT-NSW border at 5:45pm on Sunday and advised residents in surrounding suburbs to remain inside.
A number of nearby residents said they heard explosions as the fire burned, which the Monaro Local Area Command said were related to the fire.
About 10 units from ACT and New South Wales fought the blaze and finally got it under control overnight.
A truck from the airport even had to be diverted to the scene.
"That aviation, rescue and firefighting truck made a huge difference," ACT fire and rescue chief officer Mark Brown told ABC Canberra.
"It's able to generate large quantities of foam and it really was a key part in knocking down that fire in the early stages."
The units from NSW left the scene at about midnight, but six ACT crews are still on the scene and are expected to stay there for most of the day.
"We've got an excavator on site and that's starting to pull apart the piles of vehicles and other recycling material and that's made a huge difference," Mr Brown said.
This morning, ACT Emergency Services Agency said tests carried out by the Hazmat unit showed no contaminants from the fire in the air, but tests would continue.
Topics: industrial-fires, canberra-2600, queanbeyan-2620, act, australia
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