Jun 9th 2008 6:20am
Timaru Herald

A sample fat fryer which caught fire at McCain's Washdyke factory yesterday morning caused moderate damage to an administration building.

The fire was contained quickly, limiting further damage thanks to the quick actions of a staff member working at the time.

Washdyke senior station officer Garry Parker said the staff member noticed the fire just after 7am in a prefab building which served as a laboratory and security office at the entrance to the Meadows Road factory.

'In this case the staff member who noticed the fire did everything correctly. She saw the fire through the glass door, went to grab an extinguisher from inside the room but decided it was unsafe.

'She then shut the door and dialled the fire service. The simple action of shutting the door restricted the amount of oxygen in the room which helped contain the fire to two rooms until the brigade arrived.'

When the fire service arrived, the northern end of the building was on fire and had spread into the roof cavity.

'The crew quickly established a water supply from out on the street and deployed two men in breathing apparatus making an aggressive fire attack.

'The second responding appliance from Timaru station assisted with the water supply and a further two fire fighters made an aggressive fire attack in a second room. It took 10 minutes to contain the blaze.'

The Temuka Rural Fire service also attended and assisted the Timaru and Washdyke crews to dampen down hot areas and pockets of fire.

'Because of the slippery nature of the roof due to a blanket of snow, a crew from Timaru set up the aerial appliance and had two men working off the top of the ladder lifting iron to ascertain that the fire was out.

A crew remained at the site until 10.30am to check for hot spots.

'McCain's has made alternative arrangements with the lab and security office being shifted into another portable building.'

The factory is expected to be operating fully today.

Credit: Timaru Herald