Fire Industry News for August 2025

A number of hazard reduction burns are scheduled for NSW, including the Greater Sydney Area, over the coming days. Smoke from these burns is likely to settle across residential areas, especially in the afternoon and evening. Heavy smoke may be experienced by residents close to the burns and in eastern parts of the metropolitan area. Smoke is expected to remain over parts of Sydney until early next week. Smoke from bush fires and hazard reduction burning can affect some people more than others....

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters have saved a historic boat shed from fire on the Parramatta River at Putney, in Sydney's north-west. More than 30 firefighters and eight fire trucks were deployed to Waterview Street as flames engulfed a small building just after 4 am. The blaze then threatened to spread to a nearby complex, which has significance to Australia's early colonial history and has been used as a boat-building, servicing, and repair facility since the 1930s. FRNSW crews FRN...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators today have determined that a Lithium-ion battery has caused a fire which destroyed five cars at Sydney Airport last night. Firefighters were called around 8:30 pm to a parking lot on Airport Drive, Mascot, where flames had engulfed a luxury electric car before spreading to another four motor vehicles. The battery, which had recently been detached from the luxury car and stored in the lot, was quickly identified as having sparked the blaze. Experts fro...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighter, Gavin Clifton, is just days away from his latest fund-raising venture for charity, climbing 18 hours non-stop up and down the Furber Steps at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Gavin, an On-call (Retained) firefighter based at Wentworth Falls Fire Station, is aiming to raise $50,000 to aid research into Motor Neurone Disease, as part of the annual ‘Firies Climb for MND’ program. Originating from his initial Sydney Tower climb, Gavin is “u...

A firefighting couple has relied on their on-the-job experience to deliver their own baby in the car park of a Hunter Valley fast food restaurant. Pregnant Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Communication Centre Operator, Samantha Paul, was four days overdue when she started going into labor at her Nelson Bay home. Her partner, FRNSW Senior Firefighter, Elizabeth Paul, immediately placed her into their car and began the hour-long journey to Belmont Midwifery Group Practice. NSW Ambulance The couple...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has determined a fire, which caused major damage to a volunteer organization's ambulance station in Sydney's inner west overnight, was sparked by a Lithium-ion battery in a buggy. More than 30 firefighters and nine fire trucks were deployed just after midnight to Deane Street, Burwood, where flames had broken out in a car park on the ground level of the five-storey building. The blaze severely damaged six ambulances, three support vehicles, trailers, and a buggy, wh...

The Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Firefighter Championships at Wagga Wagga have come to a close, following three days of hard-fought competition and skills development. Making a return to its inaugural birthplace, the 2024 State Championships proved to be full of camaraderie, community spirit and teamwork. Victorian visitors, Echuca Country Fire Authority (CFA) took out the top spot after an exhilarating display of teamwork and skill, inching ahead of FRNSW’s Wyong and Kootingal Rural Fire...

Fire and Rescue NSW has hosted a special Chinese Lion dancing ceremony to welcome prosperity and happiness during the service’s 140th year. With the Lunar New Year festivities starting on Saturday, 10th March, FRNSW Commissioner, Jeremy Fewtrell, and other firefighters welcomed the performance in the station’s engine bays by the Chinese Youth League Lion and Dragon dance troupe. The procession through Number One Station, City of Sydney, Australia’s busiest, aims to promote go...

PAW Patrol fan favorites will bolster fire education and awareness among children in a unique partnership between Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and Paramount Australia, announced. The alliance will see the characters from the hit animated franchise, airing on Nickelodeon and produced by Spin Master Entertainment, convey age-appropriate fire safety messaging to preschool and primary school-aged children. It follows the outstanding response to PAW Patrol’s association with the FRNSW Open Day...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has deployed a new firefighting tanker at Umina, boosting protection measures for the state’s Central Coast. Valued at $450,000, the Isuzu Category One tanker is the latest of 34 new tankers funded by the NSW Government after the devastating 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires. The Isuzu is a multi-purpose, off-road-capable tanker that can carry more water than typical urban fire engines. The four-wheel drive also incorporates a new ‘Halo’ cabin protect...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has marked its 140th birthday with a special ceremony at one of Australia’s most historic fire stations. NSW Governor, Her Excellency the Honorable Margaret Beazley AC KC, joined Emergency Services Minister, Jihad Dib MP; FRNSW Commissioner, Jeremy Fewtrell AFSM, and a host of other dignitaries at a birthday party at the City of Sydney station in Castlereagh Street. The officials cut a birthday cake to honor the occasion, marking FRNSW’s unique history a...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have cut open a car to rescue an injured couple after a road crash this morning at Merrylands in Sydney's west. When a fire truck from Parramatta and a Technical Rescue crew from Liverpool arrived at the scene of the two-car crash in Ridge Street, just after 11 am, they found one of the vehicles on its side, resting against a power pole. Firefighters used the power pole to secure the car, as they cut off and removed the roof, using hydraulic cutters and other...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is urging the public to be extra cautious after what appears to be the state’s first recorded deaths in a Lithium-Ion battery-related fire last week. About 4.10 am on Thursday, 29 February, four people were inside a townhouse at Teralba at Lake Macquarie when a fire broke out. FRNSW investigators believe a battery was compromised and immediately went into ‘Thermal Runaway,’ a process where a Lithium-Ion cell overheats and gives off toxic gases befo...

An operation, led by Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), has shored up a large building, which partially collapsed in Sydney's south last week, with the site stabilized and handed back to its managers. The two-storey office block in West Botany Street, Rockdale, began to sag after the ground below it subsided around 6:30 am on Friday (1 March). Approximately 20 people were evacuated as an exclusion zone was set up; however, no injuries were reported. Strengthen the building's foundations A multi-age...

Specialist Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews are at the scene of a partial building collapse at Rockdale, in Sydney's south. Twenty firefighters, including Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) specialists, and six fire trucks responded to the incident in an industrial park on West Botany Street around 6:30 am. Set up laser monitoring Firefighters have set up laser monitoring equipment to detect possible further movement A section of ground has subsided, causing a large two-level office block to sa...

Senior Victorian firefighting officials have thanked NSW crews for their assistance, dealing with that state’s challenging bushfire crisis this week. The Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Strike Team of five crews, from Windsor, Picton, the Central Coast, Albury and Wagga Wagga, are heading home now after providing valuable assistance to their Victorian counterparts. FRNSW crews and NSW RFS Strike The FRNSW crews and four NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Strike Teams were assigned to a variety of...

Specialist Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews are at the scene of a partial building collapse at Rockdale, in Sydney's south. Twenty firefighters, including Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) specialists, and six fire trucks responded to the incident in an industrial park on West Botany Street around 6:30 am. Set up laser monitoring Firefighters have set up laser monitoring equipment to detect possible further movement A section of ground has subsided, causing a large two-level office block to sa...

The 'im-peck-able' efforts of Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters and NSW Police have seen an exotic bird reunited with its owner, four days after it vanished from a home in Sydney's west. The two-year-old turquoise-fronted amazon, named 'Skittles,' was being kept in the backyard of an Auburn home, when it got a fright and flew away late last week. Its devastated owner contacted NSW Police to report it missing. Number of tricks for rescuers Skittles walked onto her owner's arm and was pl...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) now is deploying a Strike Team to western Victoria, where it will help protect communities facing a bushfire emergency and forecast of extreme heat in the coming days. Fifteen firefighters and three incident management experts will deploy with five vehicles, including state-of-the-art bushfire tankers, light tankers and bulk water carriers, as they support Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA) crews.  They'll form part of a larger NSW contingent also involvin...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have battled a large blaze in an industrial complex at Rydalmere, in Sydney's west, preventing flames from spreading to stocks of Lithium-Ion batteries. The blaze broke out in a unit on South Street, just after 7 am. Around 80 firefighters responded at the height of the fire. As crews accessed the unit ablaze, they found the flames had taken hold in a series of high bay pallet racks of electrical components. They also noticed smoke issuing from an adj...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have contained a chemical spill at a school in Sydney's south, which caused 28 people to feel unwell this afternoon. A 600 milliliter bottle of benzyl chloride, a chemical sometimes used to make dyes and pharmaceuticals, leaked in a science laboratory on Vine Street, near Kenwyn Street, Hurstville, around midday. It's understood that the chemical was in the process of being moved for disposal. NSW Ambulance paramedics NSW Ambulance paramedics are setting and...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have used ladders to rescue six people from their balconies, as fire erupted in a unit block in Sydney's west overnight. More than 40 firefighters and 12 fire trucks were deployed to Grose Street, North Parramatta, when the blaze ignited on the ground floor of the three-level complex just after 2 am. FRNSW firefighters Six people sought refuge on their balconies until FRNSW firefighters, using ladders, assisted them to safety Flames threatened to spread to n...

Fire crews have extinguished a burning truck trailer, that's partially blocked traffic on the M1 Motorway at Morisset, at Lake Macquarie. Motorists reported a large cloud of thick, black smoke emanating from the trailer as the Prime Mover drove south around 12.45pm. The driver, once alerted, pulled the rig to the side of the freeway and used an emergency telephone to contact authorities. FRNSW appliances Five Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) appliances, from Lake Macquarie and Central Coast s...

A firefighter has been injured during a large house fire this morning at North Willoughby on Sydney's lower north shore. More than 40 Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters and at least 12 appliances rushed to Hollywood Crescent around 9.30 this morning.  On arrival, crews found the two-floor home engulfed by flames. Fire crews immediately attacked the blaze from all four sides. Containing the fire A firefighter was trying to access the second storey when he burnt his hand. He was...

Fire and Rescue NSW’s ability to respond to high-rise emergencies in Sydney’s east has been bolstered by a new $1.5 million turntable ladder truck for the Woollahra Fire Station. The Rosenbauer-manufactured vehicle, built in Germany, replaces an earlier model, which has reached the end of its service life. The new aerial appliance can extend its ladder 33 meters, up to 75 degrees, to deal with elevated emergencies and can hold a combined weight of 500 kilograms. Turntable ladd...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have extinguished a stolen truck, set on fire, at Mount Hutton, a suburb of Lake Macquarie. A Tanker and Pumper from the Tingira Heights Fire Station rushed to Warners Bay Road at 9.30 last night and found the small, tray-top truck well alight. Firefighters doused the blaze and declared the scene safe within half an hour. Inquiries revealed the vehicle had been stolen, dumped, and set alight. No one was injured in the incident. NSW Police are now investiga...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have led the response to a major grass fire near Nepean Rugby Park in Sydney's west. Just after midday, 15 crews from FRNSW and the Rural Fire Service (RFS) were called to the blaze at Hickeys Lane in Penrith, a remote location surrounded by an industrial complex. Firefighters immediately started work on containing the fire, which was rapidly moving in a northerly direction. Major visibility issues To assist the operation, a helicopter was used to waterb...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews are mopping up after a large fire, which engulfed a building last night at Tweed Heads South, on the New South Wales and Queensland border. FRNSW and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) deployed more than 40 firefighters and eight fire trucks when the blaze ignited a 'mixed use' site on Parkside Drive, around 7:45 pm. The fire initially impacted three storage units and a mezzanine platform before strong winds fanned flames through the entire stru...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have successfully carried out an intricate operation to free a motorcyclist, whose leg was crushed by a tow truck in a crash at Rydalmere, in Sydney's west, this afternoon. The two vehicles and a car collided in the westbound lanes of Victoria Road, near Bridge Street, around 1:45 pm. Three FRNSW crews from the nearby Parramatta and Eastwood fire stations immediately responded. They located the motorcycle rider - a man in his 30s - trapped underneath the t...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have carried out a critical series of hazard reduction burns ahead of the extreme fire conditions in parts of the state. A 13-hectare low-intensity burn has been conducted at Guyra, in the Northern Tablelands, to reduce the fuel loads across the eastern side of town. This is designed to protect homes on the urban-bush interface as well as an isolated property in the area. Other recent mitigation efforts Other recent mitigation efforts have focused on red...