Wangi Wangi power station fire treated as suspicious, police looking for four men

Fire and Rescue NSW officers attended the decommissioned power station after residents reported flames and smoke billowing from the vacant building shortly before 4pm.

Police suspect trespassers entered the building on Summerhill Drive, and started a fire on the third floor.

“Four males were seen leaving the scene in a blue two-door hatchback with a possible registration beginning with BAL,” a police spokesperson said.

One male is described as Caucasian, aged in his early 20s, with a slim build, and light brown hair.

Another male is described as Caucasian, aged in his early 20s, of a slim build, with shoulder-length wavy hair.

The other two males have been described only as Caucasian, of slim builds, and with short hair.

Inspector Darryn Cox, from Lake Macquarie Local Area Command, said the power station had become a regular site for illegal activity including arson and BASE jumping.

“The people coming to these premises face significant risk to their personal safety due to the dilapidated condition of the site,” Inspector Cox said.

“Not only that, when they are caught, they face charges for trespassing on private property.”

The fire is the latest in a series of incidents to contribute to the building’s sad decline in recent years.

Last February, The Lakes Mail published a series of photographs taken from inside the 12,000-square-metre building.

The haunting series of images showed evidence of vandalism and decay.

The power station opened in 1958 and was decommissioned in 1986.

A $300-million plan to transform the power station into 11 storeys of shops, apartments, a cinema and restaurant were shelved lin 2015 when the man who developed the plan, Ian McDonald, passed away.

Mr McDonald’s family company has the site for sale.