Inquiry into the fire at Sydney Aquatic Centre 13 October 2013
Date of death
2013-10-13
Finding date
2015-03-23
Cause of death
Fire at Sydney Olympic Park P2 car park, likely origin discarded cigarette in garden bed
AI-generated summary
On 13 October 2013, a fire erupted in a garden bed abutting the P2 car park at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre during an extreme weather event (high temperature, strong wind, low humidity). The fire likely originated from a discarded cigarette and spread rapidly across the car park, destroying 47 vehicles and damaging approximately 105 others. Severe drought conditions and the high fire susceptibility of native vegetation (fountain grass and mat-rush) contributed to the fire's intensity. Two civilians and two firefighters sustained minor injuries; there were no deaths. The coroner found the origin in the garden bed and that extreme conditions confluenced to enable rapid spread. Fire crews initially could not locate fire hydrants due to poor signage, hindering response. The coroner recommended: improved fire hydrant signage (HP, HR, H markers), wider distribution of pre-incident planning information to fire stations beyond the immediate vicinity, and installation of an irrigation system in the car park to reduce vegetation fire susceptibility.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Discarded cigarette (likely cause)
- Extreme weather conditions (high temperature, strong wind, low humidity)
- Drought-affected vegetation with high fire susceptibility
- Fountain grass and mat-rush susceptible to ignition in dry conditions
- Lack of irrigation system
- Dried mulch in garden beds assisted ember attack and fire spread
- Poor fire hydrant signage delayed fire service response
- Limited pre-incident planning distribution to responding fire station
Coroner's recommendations
- Fire hydrants in Sydney Olympic Park to be clearly identified with HP, HR or H signage
- Fire stations within a wider radius of Sydney Olympic Park to be included in pre-incident planning and provided with hydrant location information
- Installation of irrigation system in P2 car park to provide greater options for plant species selection and reduce fire susceptibility of vegetation
- Future consideration of vegetation types and species in P2 car park with regard to fire susceptibility once irrigation system is installed
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —