Police are investigating a large fire that has injured a firefighter after it broke out in a car-wrecking yard near Grafton last night, in northern New South Wales.
More than 60 Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and Rural Fire Service firefighters were called to the fire at Trenayr at about 6:00pm.
Firefighters gained control of the blaze by 9:00pm.
NSW Police said the fire was being treated as suspicious, a crime scene has been established and investigations were ongoing.
Detective Chief Inspector Guy Flaherty said about 1,500 vehicles had been "incinerated by fire".
"We are interested in anyone from the public who has seen a white twin-cab Holden or Mazda motor vehicle in the vicinity of the fire around 5:30pm," Detective Flaherty said.
Initial police investigations identified three or four males travelling in the car on Trenayr Road, near where the fire started.
"Anyone with information who may have seen this white twin-cab Holden or Mazda ute ... are urged to contact Crime Stoppers,"
Detective Flaherty said police believed the fire was deliberately lit.
"Our inquiries so far have identified that the ignition source was outside the area," he said.
"The circumstances of what was being sought on the location and the ignition of the fire will be part of the investigation," Detective Flaherty said.
FRNSW Inspector Steve Brown said it was "a massive blaze" and firefighters remained on the scene to monitor hot spots.
On arrival, he said fire crews found about 30 cars alight.
"It was described as a pile of cars 100 metres in diameter and early reports [said] that it was stacked 10 [vehicles] high."
Firefighter injured
In their efforts to contain the large blaze, emergency crews were faced with multiple explosions.
A FRNSW spokesperson said one firefighter received head injuries.
She was admitted to hospital for observation and later released, the spokesperson said.
An emergency alert was issued to about 8,000 residents warning about the fire's hazardous smoke plume. However, Inspector Brown says the smoke has since "greatly diminished".
"It's a combination of all the different materials in that pile of cars. So it's the rubber, it's the plastic it's the metals itself giving off all that toxic chemicals," Inspector Brown said.
Resident Garry Conn, who lives about a kilometre away from the scrap yard, said he saw "one big black plume of smoke and a constant barrage of bangs and cracks".
He said the scrap yard had grown recently due to an influx of flood-damaged cars.
"It's sort of popped up pretty quick and grown quickly in the past two years ... I believe a lot of cars have come from the floods and recent catastrophes we've had around here, which seem to never end."
The fire has now been contained to pockets of smouldering plastics, tyres and other materials, but the clean up is expected to take some time.
FRNSW Regional North Area Commander Stephen Hurst said the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has been called in to assess the situation.
"We have the EPA on site and we are working in close conjunction with them to ensure the minimisation of any environmental impact."
