A MASSIVE fire tore through a Footscray textiles factory yesterday morning, sending plumes of smoke through the suburb.
Firefighters were called to the Pioneer Textiles factory on Cowper St around 5am, where a fire had started in the second storey of the premises and spread throughout the building.
Commander Jan Chmielnik said the roof had collapsed when fire crews arrived, with the walls of the building soon following.
“It was a very substantial fire and I reckon we’re going to be there a couple of days,” he said.
“The fire was pretty hard to get to, because you couldn’t get into the place. We had trouble getting water pressure up to the monitors and the aerial gear.”
No people were in the building at the time of the blaze.
Commander Chmielnik said the two-storey building had been stocked with “tonnes of fabric”.
Around 50 firefighters spent over an hour getting the blaze under control, and urged residents to stay indoors and close all doors and windows to avoid smoke inhalation.
The cause of the blaze has not been determined.
