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Operations have slowly resumed at Melbourne Airport after a fire in one terminal left hundreds of travellers in the dark on Friday.
Fire Rescue Victoria and Aviation Firefighting and Rescue Services responded to reports of a blaze in Terminal 1 shortly after 7pm. Less than an hour later, the blaze was under control, but not before hundreds of passengers were evacuated out onto the roadway.
Passengers being evacuated on Friday night from Melbourne Airport.Credit: Instagram, Jacqui Felgate
“The fire has been completely extinguished. The terminal – Terminal 1 only – was evacuated in response to the fire alarms,” a Melbourne Airport spokeswoman said at 8.40pm.
“Emergency services have cleared the terminal as safe to partially reopen and for operations to recommence. We are now supporting passengers as they return to the terminal and operations resume.
“We thank travellers for their patience and co-operation throughout the disruption.”
When fire crews arrived on the scene, they located and extinguished a “small fire”. “The scene was deemed under control at 7.39pm,” an FRV spokesperson said on Friday night.
Significant delays to Qantas flights are expected. Credit: iStock
Although the terminal began re-opening for passengers, significant delays to Qantas flights were still expected.
Qantas flights that had landed in Melbourne since the incident had been forced to line up on the tarmac, waiting to disembark.
Travellers took to social media to express their frustration at the time it took for the evacuation procedure to take place in the terminal.
“It took at least 10 minutes of the alarm going before anyone took action and evacuated guests,” one person wrote.
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