Surry Hills fire: Two 13-year-olds hand themselves in to police

The fire breaks out in a former apartment building in Surry Hills, central Sydney. Photo / Jonathan Ng

Two 13-year-olds have handed themselves into police after yesterday’s massive fire in the central Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.

The children separately reported to two different police stations last night.

NSW Police acting assistant commissioner Paul Dunstan asked “three or four” other youngsters who were known to be present when the inferno was sparked to come forward with their parents to “put their side of the story”, NCA Newswire reported.

Police say the young people believed to have been involved in the fire, in a multi-level building near the Surry Hills station, did not suffer any known injuries.

Dunstan also confirmed there were up to 15 people sleeping inside the former apartment building the night before the fire, but believed they were all accounted for.

More than 120 firefighters battled the blaze at the multi-level building.

Multiple calls to emergency services were received when flames started engulfing the seven-storey building on Randle St just after 4pm, Fire and Rescue NSW said.

Firefighters from 30 fire trucks and multiple stations were involved and at least one firefighter was injured.

Dramatic video showed a huge section of the building collapsing.

“A tornado of black smoke has blanketed the area,” another witness told news.com.au yesterday. “The building looks like the bottom of a fire pit.”

Fire and Rescue NSW acting commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell told a press conference: “It was an incredibly intense fire.”

It reached a “10th alarm” status, which is the most severe type of fire.

Fire and Rescue NSW superintendent Adam Dewberry told Sunrise this morning that there was now a “major concern” that the building could collapse.

“There is a high chance these could fall in, collapse without notice, bringing tonnes of bricks down, those bricks becoming projectiles,” he said.