By XAVIER SMERDON
MORE than 85 firefighters battled an inferno in Laverton North last week that gutted two factories.
A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesperson said when firefighters arrived at the scene they found one of the factories fully engulfed in flames.
The spokesperson said 18 MFB appliances and two CFA trucks were needed to douse the fire, which took an hour and 20 minutes to get under control.
The two businesses damaged on Fitzgerald Rd were a wrecking yard called All West Wreckers and a crane company called Quinlan Cranes.
“The fire had extensively spread into an adjacent factory housing a large crane,” the spokesperson said.
“Fire officers have praised the efforts of firefighters in minimising the damage to the cranes and associated earth moving equipment stored within the building.”
One MFB firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion at the scene.
The spokesperson said that firefighters stayed at the scene until Tuesday morning to continue fire duties.
Structural engineers were also evaluating the safety and structural integrity of the buildings while MFB Special Fire Investigators were hoping to report and determine the cause of the fire which when Star went to print was unknown.
