By Ann Marie
FIREFIGHTERS say last Thursday’s blaze at the Werribee Plaza could have trapped hundreds of shoppers had it spread from an exhaust shaft to other areas of the centre.
About 150 people were evacuated from the centre’s 10 cinemas, La Porchetta restaurant, the Commonwealth Bank and the Hot Rocks Diner, after the fire broke out around 12.40pm.
Two people were taken to hospital with suspected smoke inhalation.
Hoppers Crossing CFA incident controller Michael Masters said the blaze started at La Porchetta’s.
This caused a fire in a duct running three storeys to the cinemas above, he said.
“It was an extremely difficult and dangerous fire because we weren’t able to see it,” he said.
Fire fighters used a $25,000 thermal imaging camera to pinpoint the blaze, he said.
“It had the potential to spread through walls and ceiling voids and set fire to other parts of the building,” he said.
The crews were forced to break through a section of cinema wall, built with extra-thick sound-proof plaster, to get to the cause of the fire, he said.
The patrons of the cinema, or people outside the building would have noticed the smoke first, he said.
“People in the restaurants wouldn’t have realised anything was even the matter,” he said.
“The cinema personnel implemented emergency evacuation procedures exactly as they should have,” he said.
“It was done in an orderly manner assisted by two off-duty detectives from the Werribee police.”
About 45 firemen and 11 vehicles responded to the blaze, which took about 40 minutes to contain.
La Porchetta owner Ali Seifeddine confirmed the fire began in the roof of his restaurant.
It started because of a mechanical problem with the ventilation fan, he said.
Mr Seifeddine said there was no fire damage to the building, but it did suffer water damage after the sprinklers turned on automatically.
He said the damage had not been assessed but estimated a bill of about $50,000 plus stock.
Damage to the centre, mainly wiring, ducts, and water damage, was estimated at about $350,000.
Lynne Steinhauer, owner of the Hot Rocks Diner, said she was forced to close her restaurant for the afternoon and evening because of water damage.
Many diners were reluctant to evacuate and leave their lunches because they couldn’t see any fire, she said.
