Hardware owners hit by a second fire

THE owners of an inner-south Sydney hardware and timber warehouse destroyed by fire yesterday were the victims of a similar fire nine years ago.

Swadlings Timber and Hardware in Rosebery was destroyed by a fire which broke out just after 6am yesterday and soon engulfed the building, sending a plume of densesmoke into the inner city sky as cylinders of gas and other inflammable substances exploded inside.

Botany Road between Queen Street and Harcourt Parade was closed during peak hour and at one stage when the inferno was nearing its peak there was concern the plume would affect visibility for pilots on the busy flight path to Sydney Airport.

About 100 residents in a residential complex on the corner of Botany Road and Shirley Street were evacuated amid concerns that the intense heat from the blaze could crack apartment windows.

A fire brigade hazardous materials team was used to monitor air quality as scorched pool chemicals and paint thinners billowed into the sky.

A similar fire razed Action Timber and Hardware on New Canterbury Road in Lewisham on September 25, 1999.

The part-owner of both the Action and Swadlings stores, Colin Swadling, said the 1999 fire was the result of a break-in after intruders used matches to see inside the premises.

Swadlings part-owner Danny Gattone, Mr Swadling's brother-in-law and a part-owner in both stores, said timber stockpiles were susceptible to fire but the coincidence was hard to take.

"We are in that game [timber], but we can't believe it," he said.

Mr Gattone said sprinklers were fitted to the Botany Road store but failed to stop the fire.

He had hoped more could have been done to save the store during the early stages.

"It was fully sprinkled, we get it assessed every quarter, everything was done in accordance with the rules," he said.

"It's just a shame that the fire department could not get in earlier to where the timber was. They were just content to let it burn on its merry way."

Fire Brigades commissioner Greg Mullins said 100 fire fighters and 20 units battled the blaze at its peak but the first officers on the premises were beaten back by intense flames.

"It is a pretty intense fire. When firefighters … arrived, the fire was contained in one section," he said. "They tried to get control of it but they got what we call a flashover where it just takes hold, and they had to quickly retreat and call for back-up."

An estimated $1 million worth of stock and equipment was lost in each fire.