A Melbourne apartment building fire that forced a middle-of-the-night evacuation of hundreds of residents is expected to cost $5 million to repair.
The damage bill for a Melbourne apartment complex fire caused by an overheating air conditioning unit is expected to top $5 million.
About 400 people were evacuated from the high-rise complex at Docklands after the alarm was raised around 2.30am on Tuesday.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade says equipment stored behind an air conditioning compressor unit caused it to overheat, sparking the fire.
The blaze quickly spread up the building from the third to the 21st floor, causing damage to the building's exterior and balconies.
One apartment on each level was fire damaged, while others sustained significant smoke and water damage, according to an MFB spokesman.
"The problem was the fire spread up the external balconies and caused some damage to each of the floors above which operated the sprinkler system, so obviously there's some water damage that we've got to try and clean up as well," he said.
He said apart from some broken windows the building appeared structurally sound, though the building has not yet been declared safe.
It's unclear when residents, who spent the night sleeping in the Southern Cross Station bus terminal and Etihad Stadium, will be able to return to their apartments.
Senior paramedic Steve Moody said some evacuees were treated for minor injuries.
"A couple of people suffered scraped knees from slipping on the building's stairs coming down in the wet," he said.
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