Maze Backpackers evacuated after candle flame sets plastic shelving on fire Hundreds of backpackers were evacuated from the Maze Backpackers on Pitt St after fire broke out in a room on the first floor. A firefighter inspects the room where the fire started. HUNDREDS of yawning tourists were forced onto the cold Pitt St pavement this morning after a fire forced the evacuation of a backpackers hostel in Haymarket. Smoke alarms sounded about 4am at Maze Backpackers when a candle set a plastic shelving unit alight. Smoke was billowing into the hallways within minutes and pyjama-clad backpackers, many in bare feet, were huddled onto the street as emergency services brought the blaze under control. "Heaps of people started running out and we could see this smoke, it was like mist on a really foggy day," Gold Coast tourist Aldwyn Altuney told The Daily Telegraph. It smelt really toxic and I still have that awful toxic taste in the back of my throat. The fire is believed to have started in a bedroom and firefighters were seen removing a melted and disfigured black shelving unit from a first-floor window. Police also attended the scene, but the cause of the fire is not believed to be suspicious. A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation, while tourists snapped images of emergency services personnel as they piled into the building. "We were told 'get out now' and to leave all our valuables behind," Ms Altuney said. The fire was quickly extinguished and guests were allowed to return to their rooms by 4.30am.