Welding spark 'behind Barangaroo blaze'

A welding spark may have ignited the blaze at Sydney's Barangaroo construction site that forced the evacuation of about 2500 workers and brought peak hour traffic to a standstill.

The fire started in the basement of a building under construction around 2pm (AEDT) yesterday before threatening to raze a 50m-tall crane.

Fears that the fire-damaged crane could topple forced workers to run for their lives.

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It also forced the closure of several city roads, including the usually-bustling Western Distributor, plunging much of the inner city into gridlock on Wednesday evening.

Lasers were trained onto the 20-storey crane overnight to alert emergency crews to any movement.

Firefighters worked overnight to control the blaze.

Once it is brought under control, structural engineers will be able to assess the damage at the Harbour-front construction site, which is being managed by Lend Lease.

Lend Lease chief operating officer Dan Labbad said investigators would check claims a welding accident may have sparked the blaze, the Daily Telegraph reports.

"It's important at this stage we don't jump to quick conclusions, we will need to conduct a full investigation,'' he said.

Mr Labbad said engineers planned to dismantle the crane.

He added he did not know how long the blaze would set back the Barangaroo project or how much it would cost.

However the union representing workers, the CFMEU, told the Sydney Morning Herald the blaze was likely to delay construction by “months”.

The Barangaroo area is being redeveloped as a residential and retail hub, with plans for a high-rollers' casino owned by billionaire James Packer.

Source: Daily Telegraph
Author: Erin Tennant, Approving editor: Matthew Henry