Police are still searching for a group of teenagers seen near the scene of a fire that destroyed a 19th-century Surry Hills building on Thursday, as social media videos emerge showing people exploring the abandoned building before it burnt down.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews monitored the building’s walls for movement with laser equipment overnight and recorded the front wall moving about 70mm, as firefighters said the exclusion zone around the building would remain in place on Saturday.
A “light smouldering” fire continues to burn deep inside the heritage-listed building which firefighters cannot extinguish due to the risk of building collapse, a Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said. More than 70 residents from nearby apartment buildings who evacuated on Thursday may not be able to return home for a week or more.
Meantime, footage has emerged on social media showing people exploring the abandoned warehouse on Randle Street before it was destroyed by fire. The videos show the walls inside the building covered in graffiti, and views of the Sydney skyline from the roof.
Views from the Surry Hills building destroyed by fire on Thursday.Credit: rleywn.2
In one TikTok video, a person who claimed they had visited the site said it had “beautiful views of the city at the top and was very chill and nice to go to”.
However, the number of people visiting the site had increased due to the location being revealed on social media, the person claimed.
“When I first found a way in and showed my mates I was in there quite a bit and I never saw anybody else, but as it became more and more popular on TikTok I started bumping into more and more people,” the person said.
Inside the Surry Hills building before it was destroyed by fire.Credit: rleywn.2
