A Western Australian shire is calling for the immediate clean-up of a historic timber mill after it was gutted by fire, posing an asbestos threat to the local community.
The timber mill in the historic South West mill town of Pemberton, 320 kilometres south of Perth, caught fire on Friday morning.
Firefighters were able to put the blaze out and said it was lucky that the wind blew the smoke away from the town centre.
Shire of Manjimup president Paul Omodei said the damaged building would require an immediate clean-up given the threat of asbestos.
The mill's owner, Parkside Group lease it from the WA government, and has so far refused to comment on the blaze and the subsequent clean-up.
Mr Omodei said the building contained millions of dollars worth of equipment, which has now been damaged.
Police investigations found the circumstances around the fire were not suspicious.
Asbestos threat remains
Mr Omodei said he had written to the state government in 2018 concerned about the asbestos-clad building.
He pushed for it to be demolished but was told it was up to the lessee to demolish the mill.
"We still believe there's a significant problem now… there's a lot of frayed asbestos hanging down and as it dries out it will blow in the wind," Mr Omodei said.
"There needs to be immediate action to demolish it and cut away all of the contaminated soils."
In a statement, the Department of Lands, Planning and Heritage, which lease the land, said it was Parkside's responsibility to clean the site.
The department said it would work with the local shire and Parkside.
History destroyed
According to the WA Government heritage website, the mill was first established in 1913 and was an integral part of the town's history.
It has not been operational since it closed in 2016.
Shire of Manjimup president Paul Omodei said it was a huge loss to the town.
"It's devastating from the point of view that a large part of our history has disappeared," he said.
"We could've turned it into a really good tourist attraction, you could've had people guided through the mill safely."
