Residents were pouring onto the streets on Sunday night at the sight of the smoke billowing out of the abandoned railway building near Railway Street.
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Emergency services were called to the scene at around 9.45pm, and by the time firefighters arrived the flames had spread and were licking at the roof of the building.
Six firefighters fought the blaze with three lines of houses, and with their combined efforts the crew managed to extinguish the flames by 11.10pm.
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Turvey Park Fire and Rescue NSW station officer Jeff Edwards said this was not the first time the abandoned building had been set on fire, and he said it was "fairly obvious" that it had been done deliberately.
"It's mindless vandalism to set fire to something in a town like Wagga, especially so close to the main street. It causes all kinds of problems," Mr Edwards said.
"You can imagine the confusion on the streets: people out and about taking photos, neighbours in the area coming to see what was going on, people coming up over the bridge who could see it - we had numerous calls to it."
Mr Edwards said the power had been isolated from the building, and that Wagga police would be investigating who caused the fire.
Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
