Big fire at lucerne plant

Press, 19 February 1979, Page 2

Big fire at lucerne plant

. A huge stuck of baled lu-i ceme hay destined for pel- i , ieting at the lucerne-process-( jing factory of Fletcher Agri-! Icv'ture at Winslow, near! !Ashburton, was destroyed by; ■ fire on Saturday. The fierce blaze, fanned i and whipped up by strong,; gusting, north-westerly | : winds, kept firemen of fourbrigades. and factory; employees and other helpers, occupied for much of the day. i Smoke from the fire was! (seen by many residents ini i Ashburton, and in coastal; areas 15km away. | The fire destroyed a | stock-pile of 3000 large I ground bales of lucerne hay.l “ At its height, it threatened! (to engulf factory buildings; - and destroy machinery. The factory’s manager (Mr: J. J. M. Lubeck) said on Sat-1 •iurday evening that the loss: •Ito the company from the ! I fire would be about $50,000. The hay which had been: destroyed represented 1000

; tonnes of pellets, he said. , ! Immediate production : would not be affected as the I factory had stockpiles of | hay in other areas to keep it ! supplied. There was also no damage to plant and machinery. However, the loss would have an effect on production later in the season. The Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade’s deputy chief I officer (Mr W. H. Gray) said I die cause of the fire was not (known. I It broke out about 7 a m. The Ashburton brigade, the : Ashburton County Council’s fire-tender, and units from ; the Hinds and Willowby brigades were called out. I Mr Gray said there was a I serious threat of the fire’s 'spreading to farmland in a 'down-wind direction, because of the high winds. Its (spread was contained, but the flames also spread up- : wind from the burning bales, towards the factory. i At one stage the fire was , within 30m of the factory,

land only 10m from a factory 1 (vehicle. s j A County Council bull- ■ i dozer was brought in to cut : a break through the burning ’ hay and reduce the risk to •(the factory area. The high ’(water-tables in the area ■ (from the wet spring proved i a blessing, as water . was rl taken by machines from the fl Winslow pit, which is I (usually dry. This source [(served until the pumps at (the factory’s own wells were 'brought into action. ji A section of dry ditch in; ■ the vicinity was blocked offj j by a bulldozer and flooded, . and some tff the smouldering debris pushed into this to ( saturate it. 5 The Ashburton brigade left i at 1.30 p.m. but county fire--imen remained to guard s | against any further outII break, and to quell small -(pockets of flame fanned by ;, the wind. ! An old wooden house on s'the farm of Mr John Nish, Jon the Ashburton-Methven

highway at Winchmore, was badly damaged in a fire late on Friday afternoon. The Methven and Ashburton Volunteer brigades attended. A fire officer said that the house, which was occupied by Mr Nish, was a “write-off”, the roof struc-* ture being badly burnt. An; outbuilding comprising a sleep-out and storeroom was i also gutted. The fire had spread! through a stubble paddock! to the house during harvest- ; ing.