Fire crews battle blaze at cheese factory

A blaze at a cheese factory in south Wales was battled by fire crews yesterday morning (August 15), while firefighters tackled a burning food packaging manufacturer at the weekend.

Crews from Usk, Brynmawr and New Inn were alerted to the blaze at cheese maker Abergavenny Fine Foods factory at Castle Meadows Park just after 9:30am on Tuesday.

On arrival, crews encountered a fire involving an extractor unit in the roof space.

Firefighters tackled the fire using two carbon dioxide extinguishers, breathing apparatus and a safety jet. Crews finished putting out the blaze by 10:44am.

Abergavenny Fine Foods md Melanie Bowman told FoodManufacture.co.uk the fire was quickly dealt with by the fire service and extinguished with minimal damage or impact to the business.

‘Fully productive within hours

“The site was fully productive within hours of being released by Technical & hygiene crews,” she added.

“Our thanks go to the on-site team and local fire brigade, all of whom were very quick to respond to the situation – and ensure it was “business as usual” within a matter of hours.”

An investigation by the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of the fire was accidental. 

Meanwhile, four fire crews were called to Ardagh Glass in Wheatley, Doncaster, just after 7:00am on Saturday morning, in response to a fire that left one man hospitalised.

Left one man hospitalised

Firefighters from Doncaster, Edlington and Adwick stations arrived at the factory, which manufactures glass packaging for the food and drink industry, to find machinery on fire.

The blaze had also spread to the roof of the building. South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was believed to have started accidentally.

Crews used water jets to put the fire out, before leaving the scene at 10:00am. One man suffered burns and was to taken by ambulance to hospital.