1. Cleanaway Daniels Services held an operating licence for its activity site in Dandenong South which contained the condition (OL_WM4): “You must ensure that waste does not burn at the activity site.”

2. Cleanaway Daniels accepts and treats medical waste, which is then transported offsite for disposal to landfill.  EPA has been advised by Cleanaway Daniels that “80% to 90% of Melbourne’s medical waste comes through this facility.”

3. The Activity Site contained a hammermill, a piece of plant used to physically shred waste, prior to the waste’s chemical treatment and compaction.

4. At approximately 1:47 pm on 8 June 2022 an explosion and fire started in the hammermill during processing of clinical and related waste. An operator noticed smoke and notified the office, after which emergency services and the EPA were notified.

5. At about 2:00 pm, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) crews were dispatched to combat the fire and were at the Activity Site shortly thereafter. In total, there were eight pumping fire appliances from both CFA and FRV, one ladder platform FRV (aerial appliance), and breathing apparatus support vehicle of FRV.

6. The fire was brought under control by about 2:45pm but had not been extinguished by that stage. FRV’s management of the fire ended at approximately 7:00 pm, at which time they conducted a hot spot search to identify any further fire potential using thermal imaging cameras. A glow was identified overnight within the hammermill, so FRV were recalled back to the site in the early morning of 9 June 2022.

7. There was no automatic fire detection system in place in the factory building in which the hammermill was housed. An automatic fire detection system could have operated to supress the fire and its spread. The Taproot Report that was prepared after an incident on 28 February 2022 recommended that a detection system be installed, but this was not actioned prior to 8 June 2022.