Wickham fire: Woolshed tenants begin to count cost of fire as public information session announced to deal with asbestos concerns

Tenants were beginning to count their losses on Wednesday as emergency crews expressed concern that the fire - only metres from a major fuel storage facility - may have caused asbestos contamination in the nearby area.

Firefighters were continuing to battle the blaze from the outside on Wednesday evening - it remained too dangerous for them to enter the ruins - as Newcastle detectives formed a special taskforce to investigate the cause of the inferno, which was brought under control on Tuesday night.

A public information session will take place at Goodlife Church in Albert Street, Wickham, at 7pm on Wednesday, to help give people answers regarding how to deal with asbestos contamination concerns.

Newcastle City Police District commander Detective Superintendent Wayne Humphrey, who is the site controller at the Annie Street scene, said on Wednesday the 80-year-old buildings had Super Six in their roofs.

He said there had been reports from homes west of the fireground - the direction the wind was blowing at the time of the blaze - of some possible asbestos contamination.

Super Six is a corrugated cement product, most commonly used as roof cladding, that was manufactured using asbestos fibres.

While it is non-friable, asbestos fibres can become airborne when Super Six is damaged by fire, as seen in the Annie Street blaze.

THE WICKHAM BLAZE:

The NSW Environment Protection Authority and Fire and Rescue NSW are investigating the contamination reports and a clean-up of the Soque Apartments on Milford Street - inside another former woolshed building - will take place before evacuated residents are allowed to return home.

"As the rest of the state prays for the rain to go away we're actually pretty happy it's raining at the moment because there's an impact on wetting down asbestos, that's one of the mitigation factors, so that rain is welcome at the moment," Detective Superintendent Humphrey said.

"This asbestos is not radioactive. The rain is helping it, just don't panic, notify and we will work our way through. This rain is washing it away."

An EPA spokesperson said anyone with suspected asbestos material on their property should call 131 555 or email info@epa.nsw.gov.au.

"Air monitors have been deployed in the vicinity of Wickham following the fire at the woolstore to help ease community concerns about asbestos air pollution," the spokesperson said.

"The wet weather has reduced the risk to the community as damp asbestos materials release far fewer asbestos fibres. We have a specialist asbestos assessor working with us in the area. The community should be cautious and stay away from any suspected asbestos material."

But Matthew Mooney, who lives in Islington, said he could not get through to the environment agency to report suspected asbestos on the decks, side path and driveway at his home on Wednesday morning.

"I'm not sure I feel safe at home," he said.

"Our children and elderly residents are all exposed and many of them are unaware. There's been no notification from the EPA to residents despite being told [on Tuesday] when the fire started that the building is full of asbestos."

Meanwhile, Detective Superintendent Humphrey praised the "incredibly brave" firefighters who were first on the scene after an automatic fire alarm was triggered at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.

He said those firefighters - the first of what would turn out to be about 100 in 30 trucks - tried to battle the blaze inside the building, on the first floor where it is believed to have broken out.

But the flames and heat pushed them outside, where they worked to contain the inferno.

The two former woolshed buildings are home to a storage facility along with 12 other businesses, including a dress maker, removalist and tour bus company.

Several people, including the site manager, escaped without injury. Firefighters saved a third former woolshed building on the corner of Annie and Milford streets.

Newcastle women and children refugee centre Zara's House lost two storage sheds worth of donated goods - everything from furniture to bedding - that had been given to the charity for refugees in need.

Sister Di Santleben said it was "horrible" to think of the businesses that had "gone up in flames" inside the former woolsheds.

"We'll just take a number and stand in line with all the suffering this fire has caused," she said.

A tenant of the middle building, Kate Warner, lost 20 years worth of irreplaceable, one-off, hand-picked vintage pieces - clothing, jewellery she had made and raw materials such as fabric - from her shop Two Fridas Vintage.

She said she returned to the scene on Wednesday morning but could only see blue sky when she looked through the window where her space used to be.

"I've taken years to compile that stuff. It was my little vintage museum and it's all gone," she said.

"I'm still pretty gutted."

The fire continued to burn on Wednesday under the four levels of floor that had collapsed.

The buildings were structurally unstable, with nothing holding up the external walls - some of which were visibly leaning on Wednesday morning. Firefighters said they feared a major collapse.

Structural engineers have been enlisted to help work out a way to safely enter the destroyed buildings.

A loud crash heard by nearby residents late on Tuesday night was part of one of the brick walls collapsing, a firefighter told the Newcastle Herald.

As the Herald previously reported, the fire took place in a property neighbouring the Ampol fuel storage facility.

FRNSW Chief Superintendent Terry Farley said three tanks containing eight million litres of fuel were as close as 30 metres to the blaze at times on Tuesday.

He said it "would have been catastrophic" if the fire had spread to the fuel tanks.

Chief Superintendent Farley said it could be some days until the fire is extinguished.

Residents of Robert Street have been allowed to return home but people living in Milford and Annie streets remain shut-out. Several roads in the area are also closed.

Police have set up Strike Force Lynette to investigate the cause of the fire.

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