Located in Melbourne’s CBD, the 41-storey Neo 200 residential apartment complex was the site of a damaging combustible cladding fire that broke out on the 22nd floor balcony.  The cause of the fire was the same as Melbourne’s other cladding fire , Lacrosse, a discarded cigarette. The blaze quickly set the tower’s cladding alight at 5am as flames climbed to the 27th floor within minutes. No deaths or major injuries were caused by the fire.

60 firefighters arrived on the scene, forced to battle the blaze from inside the building due to the height of the flames. Over 200 residents were evacuated by 6am, watching from the streets below as their home was ravaged by flames. Metropolitan Fire Brigade assistant chief fire officer Trent Curtin reveals the efforts of authorities were hampered by residents ‘who are refusing to leave despite repeated warnings from authorities.’ Further, many residents were not alerted to the blaze as occupants had wrapped plastic around their apartment’s smoke alarms to stop accidental activations when cooking. Fire fighters also reported others had tied string between the water sprinklers to hang washing.

Controversially, The Victorian Building Authority had audited the building as part of a state-wide combustible cladding audit,deeming the tower of “moderate risk” due to the ACP cladding used, the same material used on Grenfell Tower. Notably the combustible cladding on Neo was no more than 1 % of the external surfaces. It was really just one thin strip up the building for decorative purposes that burnt.

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