Cigarette smoke causes mass evacuation at Perth Airport

Smoke billowing through the customs hall of Perth International Airport caused significant concern, and saw 2,000 people evacuated while firefighters investigated.

Airport officials decided to move people out of the airport on Thursday, and flights to and from Perth were delayed.

“The source of the smoke has now been established,” said Malcolm Bradshaw, Perth Airport GM for Corporate and Legal Affairs, whilst describing the incident as an embarrassment.

Earlier speculation had considered an electrical fault, but a discarded cigarette butt was found to have caused the fire, according to Bloomberg.

Fire crews were called to the airport at 7:00am local time, but the airport operations resumed by 11:30am.

An explanation was offered by Bruce Jones, from the Fire and Emergency Services Authority: "That cigarette butt had been dropped down a stormwater drain, there's accumulated material in the stormwater drain that's been set on fire and subsequently set fire to PVC in the roof space and to the wiring.”

The smoke did not lead to panic, according to the evacuated people, although a man onboard a Singapore Airlines flight claimed that the flight was stuck on the tarmac for over two hours.
The pilot of that flight allegedly told passengers that Perth Airport lacked a contingency plan to cope with incoming planes during an evacuation, ABC News reports.