Hundreds of firefighters are working to extinguish a large fire at a factory complex in Sydney’s west, which has sent large plumes of smoke onto major motorways.

The blaze broke out in a Hyundai car parts factory on Peter Brock Drive at Eastern Creek on Thursday afternoon.

Fire spread to several adjoining factories at the complex and smoke spread across the M4 and M7 motorways.

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The fire-affected buildings were scheduled for demolition after they were badly damaged during hail storms in April.

Hyundai Australia’s chief operating officer John Elsworth said the factory had not been used since the storm.

He said he believed the fire was the result of demolition work that started last week.

“They’re using some pretty heavy equipment to cut through metal, whether it be roofing or the racking system out there, so that would seem a logical answer,” Mr Elsworth said.

There would be no part supply issues for any customers, he said.

“This was just tidying up a warehouse that really had been severely damaged and thankfully no one was injured today, so that’s some really good news,” he said.

Mr Elsworth said between the storm damage and the fire, the firm was “starting to feel a little bit jinxed”.

Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Ian Krimmer said about 200 firefighters were at the scene and have contained the blaze.

“The fire is contained to the demolition area but within that demolition area there is still a large fire burning, which will continue to burn probably for most of the night.

“Several hundred workers have been evacuated from a number of other adjoining factories. At this stage we have no reports of any injuries,” he said.

The collapsed Hyundai factory is on #fire at #EasternCreek in Sydney’s west, sending heavy smoke over both the M4/M7. pic.twitter.com/coyvSNgLVJ

— Zack Jones (@zackisthe) July 30, 2015

Superintendent Krimmer said several spot fires broke out earlier this afternoon but have since been extinguished.

“At the height of the fire…there were some reports of some small outbreaks of fire in grassland areas around the factory complex,” he said.

“Those fires were quickly attended to and extinguished.”

He said it may take some time to determine the cause of the fire.

“We still have a long firefighting operation ahead of us.

“Once the fire is extinguished, we’ll need to make sure the area is safe before the investigators can move in and determine how and where the fire started.”

Jeffrey Howard works at a nearby business and said part of the factory has collapsed.

“[It’s] really bad right now,” he said.

“I haven’t seen a fire this bad since the 2007 and 2008 bushfires in the Blue Mountains.”

It follows a similar blaze earlier this week at a furniture factory in Yennora, in Sydney’s south-west. More than 100 firefighters fought to bring that fire under control.