A large fire at a Brooklyn sawmill in New Zealand is likely to see export orders delayed by up to a month. Source: Stuff.co.nz, Fairfax NZ News
The fire razed the planing shed at the Prime Pine mill in Little Sydney Valley, where about 35 firefighters worked for about four hours to put out the fire and prevent it spreading to other parts of the mill.
Prime Pine general manager Kevin Sturgeon said he arrived at the mill just before the firefighters, and the 30-metre by 10m shed was ablaze from “end to end”.
His son Luke, who also works at the mill, was the first to spot the fire at about 5.50pm. He was leaving Motueka after watching the Melbourne Cup race on television when he saw smoke rising from the mill site on the hill above the valley.
Thinking the kiln could be on fire, he raced to the mill and raised the alarm.
“She was really starting to crank,” he said. “The back wall was catching on fire and the middle was ablaze, so we ran out the hoses, but you couldn’t get close enough and we didn’t have enough pressure.”
The planing shed contained two planing machines, grinders and a lot of tools, as well as about 10 cubic metres of timber.
Kevin Sturgeon estimated the loss at about $500,000, but said the mill was well insured. He said he was hoping to arrange an alternative planing site, but the fire was likely to push back scheduled export orders to Australia by about a month, as the mill was fully booked with orders until Christmas.
He was to talk with another mill in Motueka to see if it could absorb Prime Pine’s planing work.
The fire singed the side of a nearby storage and machinery shed that houses a bandsaw and a lot of timber.
Sturgeon said the firefighters did a great job to save that building and prevent the fire spreading.
Chief fire officer of the Motueka Volunteer Fire Brigade, Mike Riddell, said four fire engines and five tankers were at the scene. Because of the amount of fuel at the mill and its location in the middle of a pine plantation, there was concern that the fire could have spread quickly.
He said the planing shed was engulfed in fire when the brigade arrived, and the focus was on not letting the fire spread.
Riddell said he did not believe the fire was suspicious.
Sturgeon said the last employee had left the shed about 4.30pm. He had no idea what might have caused the fire. He did not think anyone’s employment would be affected by the blaze.
Sturgeon said that ideally, a new planing shed would be operating by New Year, although a February date was probably more realistic.
