Fire that sent flames onto Hindley Street believed to have started in fryer

Australia Broadcast Center

a day ago

Firefighters who responded to a blaze at a business in Adelaide's CBD were met by flames "blasting through the front door", but managed to quickly control them, the MFS has said.
The Metropolitan Fire Service was called to the scene about 1:45pm on Hindley Street, where large flames were sending up plumes of smoke above the roof of the building complex.
The business at the centre of the fire was one of several located inside the building, which dates back to the early 1900s, and the blaze forced the evacuation of the area.
"When I got there and saw that many fire trucks I was like, this is bigger and worse than I even imagined," said neighbouring business owner Jesse Trout.
"The whole of Hindley Street from Morphett to King William was blocked off from what I could see. It was crazy."
The MFS said about 40 firefighters and 14 vehicles attended the scene and the blaze was "brought under control within 10 minutes", but crews remained on scene for several hours.
"MFS evacuated the immediate surrounding area as thick smoke was impacting neighbouring businesses."
The MFS said fire investigators were working to determine a cause and an estimated damage bill.
"At the moment, we've got it about $300 to $400,000 for the building concerned," MFS commander Declan Dwyer told ABC Radio Adelaide.
He said initial reports suggested it was a kitchen fire that started in a deep fryer, and that it was a chef who raised the alarm.
"He did exactly the right thing — he just got out, rang triple 0 and got everyone else back and kept everyone safe," he said.
"As we turned our appliances onto Hindley Street, we could see there was a considerable amount of smoke coming out of the building, and literally as we were pulling up it flashed over and we had a large column of flames coming out onto the footpath.
"We had to try to control the fire and stop it spreading to adjoining businesses and the floors above. We also had to attack it from the back of the building."
Mr Dwyer said crews ensured there was no-one in harm's way, but rescued three cats.
"They were pretty scared but fortunately they were very cooperative," he said.
"These guys had no problems at all with being rescued. They were brought out much to the crowd's delight, I think."
The MFS said while adjoining businesses had been spared heat and fire damage, the fire had impacted the building's electricity supply.
Mr Trout — who is preparing to open a business next door within days — expressed great relief at the speed of the response.
He said he had received an email approving his business's liquor licence just 15 minutes before he was informed of the fire.
"We start getting videos from friends, who work in the city, of the building that's connected to us on fire — not just on fire, but full ablaze, like something in a movie," he said.
"We just had the excitement of, 'We're finally going to get to open'.
"Then we're like, 'Oh my god, maybe it's over before it even began'."
He expressed sympathy for the owners of the gutted business, but was relieved that the rest of the building had avoided major damage.
"To see them absolutely gutted while their business is absolutely gutted was so sad," he said.
"[But] being able to get there so fast and stopping that from spreading into all the other buildings there as fast as [the MFS] did was pretty amazing."