The operators of a site engulfed in fire that spewed thick acrid smoke across Melbourne’s skyline had its licence suspended for stockpiling chemicals almost three times its allowable level.
The fire broke out at 6.40 am in the Thorneycroft Road factory in Campbellfield – an address registered to Bradbury Industrial Services - which provides storage and disposal services of industrial and hazardous waste.
Environmental Protection Agency executive director Damian Wells said the factory contained highly flammable materials.
"It was poor form by the duty holder. We suspended this licence in late March, we inspected the premises and found three times the amount of material being stored on the premise than it was licensed to store," he said.
The factory is allowed to hold a maximum 150,000 litres of material, including solvents, inks, paints and other flammable materials, before being processed.
Storage containers were also inadequately labelled and being handled outside an appropriate area.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade Chief Officer Dan Stephens said the blaze was very quickly escalated to an “eighth alarm” with more than 40 appliances and over one-hundred fireries fighting the fire.
Stephens said the fire was “particular challenging to contain” due to the high presence of “flammable liquid” inside the factory.
"This is likely to be a protracted incident that will be ongoing for a number of days."
Mr Stephens likened it to the toxic West Footscray fire last August, which took almost a day to control and sent toxins into the local waterway.
“We are doing everything we can (but) there are very significant numbers of these (chemical waste) premises,” he said.
The Bradbury facility had its licence to take additional hazardous waste material cancelled on March 20 – but was permitted to continue working through existing waste - with the EPA issuing a statement saying Bradbury had not satisfied previously raised concerns.
"The company was found to be stockpiling an unlicensed quantity of waste material during an EPA inspection on March 13," the EPA said.
"The EPA also found storage containers weren't adequately labelled and were being handled outside the designated area designed to restrict potential spills."
“The suspension means that the company cannot take additional waste to its site, but can process what already exists on the site until it comes back into compliance with its licence requirements.”
One witness told 9NEWS he saw barrels flying in the air earlier this morning as the fire took hold.
Talking to reporters in Bendigo, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said he “expected” plumes of smoke to “rise to 1000 metres in the next few hours.”
Andrews said initial investigations suggested that it was “not a suspicious fire” and reinforced inter-agency work targeting dodgy chemical processing and storage facilities pointing to “enormous amount of spot auditing and checking.”
“Many locations are doing the right thing (but) there are some that are not.”
“Anyone doing the wrong thing will be caught and the penalties will be significant,” the premier said.
Alex Paul who worked at a neighbouring site said he heard screams of "Get out" as workers fled the scene.
"We moved about five buildings down. We didn't realise how dangerous it was. Then we saw barrels flying in the air."
Explosions were still being heard this afternoon as firefighters struggled to control the fire from spreading.
One person has been treated for an eye injury, Ambulance Victoria said.
Students and parents at a local primary school were asked to stay away today for their own health.
Holy Child Primary School is about three kilometres from the factory.
Principal Allan Smith said the smoke is visible from the school.
"We have been advising our parents to stay at home and lock their doors and windows."