Fatality Suspected in Australian Tire Factory Fire

An employee at an Australian tire factory that burned Thursday is missing and believed to have perished in the massive blaze, authorities said.

Missed by his family, the 61-year-old man failed to return to his home in Cabramatta after workers evacuated the factory. However, the burned out factory is structurally unstable and too dangerous to enter to perform a search, fire officials report.

Firefighters responded Thursday afternoon to a six-alarm fire in a tire factory in the Sydney, Australia, suburb of Fairfield East, the Fire and Rescue NSW Facebook site states.

Crews arrived just before 4 p.m. to find the factory fully engulfed in flames. Police immediately evacuated the surrounding area and cordoned off Fairfield Street, the main thoroughfare through the area.