Nude Prostitutes Flee Flames

Men frequenting a Sydney brothel and their female "hostesses" were forced to flee in the nude after a fire broke out this morning. Prostitutes and punters piled into the street outside the Stairway to Heaven brothel in Queen St, St Marys, at 12.30am. Meanwhile residents were being evacuated as firefighters battled a blaze that had engulfed a confectionery factory in Sydney's inner west - the second time it has burned down in five years.The fire broke out in the two-storey industrial building in Meeks Rd in Marrickville just before 11pm on Thursday. The same factory was destroyed by fire in July 2004, in an incident costing millions of dollars. At the brothel, a fire brigade spokesman said everyone in the two-storey building had got out safely, and the fire was contained to the premises with more than 20 firefighters and seven trucks at the scene. In Marrickville, more than 50 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control, using a cherry picker to attack it from the air.
One wall of the factory, located next to an electricity substation, collapsed - cutting power to 35,000 homes and businesses. Police evacuated 21 residents from buildings around the factory. A fire brigade spokesman said crews were likely to be at the scene for hours yet. "The fire will take several more hours to bring under control," he said. An Energy Australia spokesman later said 35,000 homes and businesses in the inner west were without power. Power would not be switched back on until firefighters had extinguished the blaze and structural engineers had assessed the building, he said. There are reports this morning that residents are now returning to homes.