Bakery gutted by fire

Press, 11 January 1984, Page 2

Bakery gutted by fire

PA Hastings A Hastings bakery was gutted by fire on Monday night, causing about $2 million damage. A passerby alerted bakery workers when he saw flames coming from the roof of Windmill Products Bakery.

Firemen arrived within minutes of the alarm’s being raised and spent nine hours dealing with the blaze.

All that remained of the 1850 sq m building when they left was a burnt heap of twisted metal.

The blaze appeared to

have started in a hot-water cupboard near the factory’s smoko room.

Mr Derek Hughes, who runs the firm, estimated the damage at $2 million, but said it would cost about $2.5 million to rebuild a similar factory on the same site and get back into production. The bakery, Hastings’ biggest, had been producing up to 60,000 loaves of bread a week.

Hastings people will not be without bread, however. Another bakery at Onekawa will service their needs until the future of the Windmill bakery is decided.