Evacuees face 2-day wait after Sydney fire

Residents may have to wait two days before they can return to their Sydney apartment block after “toxic” smoke hospitalised 12 people.

Fire crews were called to the Castle Hill unit block in Sydney’s northwest in the early hours of Thursday morning following reports a unit was alight.

But when they arrived at the scene they discovered it was a car in the unit’s basement that was ablaze.

Inspector Chris Sedgwick from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) said it was horrific for the firefighters battling to clean up toxic smoke.

“A car fire underneath a block of units is one of the worst you can get,” he told AAP.

“With all the concrete and no windows, it is like an oven in there.

“Cars are full of plastic, vinyls and rubber and when alight they give off some very toxic smoke.”

The fire, which spread up into a laundry above the car park, has since been extinguished but Insp Sedgwick said fire crews needed to ensure all smoke had cleared before residents returned home.

“Some of the gases are actually deadly so we won’t allow anybody back into the block until we ensure those gases have actually been destroyed.”

This might not be for another two days, Fairfax Radio reported.

It was originally thought that 40 residents were evacuated from the unit block and nine people were taken to various hospitals for treatment of smoke inhalation.

But a police spokeswoman told AAP that 25 people were confirmed to have been evacuated and 12 people had been hospitalised.

It’s not yet known the status of those hospitalised.

Some of the residents have gone to stay with family or friends, while others have taken shelter in the Presbyterian Church across the road.

Officers are investigating the fire, which is being treated as suspicious.

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