An out-of-control Melbourne storage warehouse blaze is spewing toxic smoke over surrounding suburbs, amid a series of explosions.
More than 80 firefighters and 20 trucks are struggling to control the blaze at the 100m by 200m Tottenham building after it caught fire around 5am on Thursday, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade said.
"When crews first arrived, we had no understanding of what was in the building so we've spoken to the owner and the occupier and we believe there is some acetone and some oxy-acetylene," incident controller Ken Brown told reporters near the scene.
"There's been some other explosions that we've had, we've had some forty-four gallon drums explode and fly through the air, which is a concern for our firefighters.
"Oxy-acetylene is welding equipment and acetone, the best way to describe it is nail polish remover."
Residents within a 2km radius of the Somerville Rd blaze are urged to stay inside, shut their windows and turn off air-conditioners to avoid the toxic smoke.
One worker at a nearby business reported hearing "a lot of explosive noises".
"It's definitely pretty severe," Dion Amato from Leading Car Care Centre told AAP.
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