A BLAZE that burned more than five tonnes of recycling material at the Kimberley Clark Australia (KCA) factory in Tantanoola on Saturday morning took firefighters around 30 minutes to control.
Country Fire Service (CFS) crews from Millicent, Tantanoola and Glencoe attended the factory on Glens Lane at around 7.25am and started to extinguish the fire.
“Around 16 firefighters from four fire trucks found the recycling pile containing five tonnes of product alight and producing large amounts of smoke,” a CFS spokesperson said.
“Firefighters quickly got to work – some wearing breathing apparatus – to pull the pile apart with assistance from the factory’s loaders before wetting the pile.”
Firefighters had the blaze under control in just over 30 minutes and prevented the flames from spreading to other sections of the Mill.
“The crews stayed on scene for a further 45 minutes to make sure the embers had cooled before handing the incident back to Kimberley Clark,” the spokesperson said.
KCA mill manager Scott Whicker said personnel from KCA initially tried to extinguish the blaze, but called the CFS for assistance.
“The fire was initially contained by KCA site personnel, but it required the CFS to be called to fully extinguish the pile,” Mr Whicker said.
Mr Whicker was thankful for the swift response from emergency services and onsite members who helped contain the fire.
“Thankfully as a result of everyone’s quick response the damage was contained to the loss of a small pile of tissue waste,” Mr Whicker said.
“We are very thankful for the prompt and professional response provided by the local CFS.”
No one was injured and the cause is yet to be determined.
