Two laptops and some clothing were stolen from Australian athletes when fire forced an evacuation of the Olympic Village in Rio.

It was yet another setback in the team’s first week in their Games village accommodation.

Having initially refused to move in until plumbing, electricity and gas faults were rectified, Friday’s fire – thought to have started in piles of rubbish – raised further concerns about safety.

“We did lose some shirts and a couple of laptops, one on the fifth floor from a cycling official and one in the office downstairs,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred told AAP on Sunday.

About 100 team members were evacuated for about 30 minutes during the fire, which is when the thefts happened.

The fire alarms in the building had been deactivated without Australian officials being told and veteran shooter Warren Potent revealed he slept right through the scare, not woken by door knocking or phone calls.

“Obviously that is completely unacceptable that a) the fire alarm was disabled and b) that if it had to be, that we weren’t warned about that,” said Australian team boss Kitty Chiller.

There has been a small fire in the basement of the team building in the Olympic Village. All athletes and staff were evacuated and are fine

— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 29, 2016

The fire brigade were quickly on the scene and the AOC's emergency management plan was put in place pic.twitter.com/NY0a0swduc

— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 29, 2016

All athletes were safely evacuated and are now back in the building pic.twitter.com/d5P8APqgZK

— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 29, 2016

She said the team received a certificate two days ago to say the building complied with fire standards.

“What we have subsequently found is that the fire alarms had been silenced while they were carrying out maintenance on the building next door to ours,” she said.

“We hadn’t been advised that the fire alarms were silenced, so how we found out was basically smoke in the corridors and stairwells.

“It’s absolutely not satisfactory at all.”

The Australian delegation, preparing to compete in the Games that start August 5 in Rio de Janeiro, went into the street until given the all clear.

No one was hurt and there was no serious damage.

Workers smoking in smoke-free Village

Chiller said a lot of workers and contractors are smoking in the Village.

“There’s a lot of rubbish around the place which a lot of countries have been talking about for the last few days, left from contractors, left from workers,” Chiller said.

Kitty Chiller is demanding more from the IOC. Photo: Getty

“There are a lot of smokers. This is my real issue. There are a lot of workers and contractors smoking in the village.

“The athletes’ village is a non smoking venue. There’s a lot of people just walking around, smoking.

“We’ve asked for a reminder to go out to all staff and contractors that there is no smoking.

“What we think has happened is a cigarette has been thrown in a rubbish bin, or on rubbish, and that’s what’s started the fire.”

Australian hierarchy have since triple-checked the fire alarms are working again after Chiller met with Rio 2016 organisers and the International Olympic Committee.

“The athletes’ village is a non smoking venue. There’s a lot of people just walking around, smoking.”
Kitty Chiller

“There was no point in laying blame or saying ‘could have or should have’ at that point last night,” she said.

However Chiller has warned team leaders of other nations to look for potential fire hazards.

“I spoke to a couple of my colleagues, three or four other NOCs (national Olympic committees) last night, and just said ‘look, check your basement, see what rubbish is still left there’,” she said.

“And we will definitely be bringing it up at the chefs de mission meeting tomorrow morning that all the rubbish is cleared.”

• with AAP, ABC