By Brett Lackey For Daily Mail Australia
06:57 27 May 2023, updated 09:13 27 May 2023
- A third boy speaking to police over massive Sydney fire
- A safety zone will remain in place for another week
A third teenager has made themselves known to police following the massive blaze that ripped through a Sydney warehouse.
The third boy, 12, is in addition to two other boys, both 13, who were already speaking to detectives – with all three confirmed to be in the building when the fire broke out.
Detectives from the Financial Crimes Squad’s Arson Unit have established Strike Force Strontium as they investigate the inferno that razed the abandoned warehouse in Surry Hills on Thursday afternoon.
Detectives said they are particularly keen to access CCTV, dash-cam, and mobile phone footage showing activity on Randle Street between 2.45pm and 4pm on Thursday.
Footage can be uploaded via the Crime Stoppers website and business owners in the area with CCTV have been asked to speak to Surry Hills Police Station.
More than 120 firefighters from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) used specialist appliances and equipment to contain the blaze before it engulfed other buildings nearby.
Authorities said firefighting operations were still ongoing on Saturday afternoon with the site smouldering and small fires breaking out amongst the rubble.
Part of the building collapsed during the blaze and the structure is unstable. On-site investigations into the cause have been hindered with investigators unable to safely enter.
Unstable walls are being monitored with laser measuring tools and drones, FRNSW said.
‘One external wall has moved 70mm over night reinforcing the commitment to maintain the current exclusions zones for community safety.’
Drone footage taken from above two destroyed buildings, has revealed melted interiors and piles of rubble within the partially collapsed walls of the structure.
Whole floors have caved in to leave a cavity inside the empty shell of a building, while exploded windows and piles of brick were left behind.
Acting zone commander Grant Rice told reporters the movement of the wall was inwards, lessening the potential for more debris to fall to the streets below.
‘We’re just keeping an eye on that at the moment,’ he said.
Mr Rice said crews were busy throughout the day working to put out any remaining fires, with attention turning now to when the building can be safely demolished and surrounding streets reopened.
‘We are working with demolition companies and working with other services and don’t have a time-frame as yet.’
He said it would likely be a few days before the work could be completed and residents could return to their nearby homes.
‘Our priority is actually getting everything back to normal around the area, and we will do the best we can.’
About 50 people living in the area have been displaced since the inferno at the former hat factory lit up the sky, closing streets and public transport.
NSW Acting Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said on Friday it was a massive blaze.
‘This is really a once-in-a-decade type of fire,’ he said.
‘You’ve got all the dry, very seasoned timber … stacked up, the framework, the building, the floors, the staircases.
‘It enabled the fire to spread very quickly vertically.
‘In a sense, it’s the perfect set of conditions to have a very intense fire.’
The only reported injury was a minor burn suffered by a firefighter.