BIG FIRE IN HORNBY POULTRY PLANT

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33874, 20 June 1975, Page 2

BIG FIRE IN HORNBY POULTRY PLANT

Fireman injured, machinery lost

Thousands of dollars worth of sophisticated plant was damaged yesterday when fire raged through the processing plant and blast freezing unit at a poultry factorx at Hornbv.

Fire broke out in one of the buildings of the poultry division factory of General Foods, at 112 Carmen Road, just before 9 a.m„ and quickly gained a hold among the Hammable chemicals and materials.

The 100 employees at the factory quickly evacuated the premises and also managed to turn off the freezing unit, and so stop the flow of ammonia into the unit. Thick black smoke poured from the building which was shaken by explosions. The fire spread quickly to the blast freezing unit, where firemen had difficulty in penetrating the building be-

cause of polystyrene insulation in the roof. The gases and smoke forced the firemen to use breathing apparatus and it was an hour and a half before the fire was completely under control. Firemen were at the factory until late afternoon. One of the firemen. Station Officer B. W. Tull, of Harewood, fell down a manhole in the early stages of the fire, and suffered chest injuries. He was taken to hospital by St John Ambulance and was admitted. His condition last evening was described as satisfactory. Seven appliances and three staff cars attended the fire. The St John Ambulance was also in attendance. The freezing unit is of a very specialised design, and'

■ one of only two in Australia , and New Zealand. It was built less than a year ago at a cost of .3350.000. At the time of the blaze 20.000 frozen chickens were being treated in the unit. In all about 8000 square feet of the main building was severely damaged. Preliminary estimates of the damage put it as high as

§500,000 but a spokesman for General Foods Corporat- ; ion New Zealand. Ltd, said last evening that an accurate estimate of the damage was not possible until after a more detailed examination of the factory. The time required to restore production was also impossible to gauge until after further investigation.