Two separate incidents shut down production on Kellogg’s Elevenses cereal bar and Branflakes cereal lines. The two fires were unrelated, according to Kellogg, and the causes of both are now being investigated.
A spokeswoman told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “Anything that happens in our plants in investigated fully. Are we concerned about there being two [fires in a short amount of time]? No. But we are investigating fully.”
The most serious blow to production happened on the morning of Tuesday February 13. One crew of six firemen answered a call to attend a fire in an industrial oven used to bake Elevenses cereal snack bars. The fire was confined to the insulation of the industrial oven.
Heat damage
The oven suffered slight heat damage, a spokeswoman for the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) told FoodManufacture.co.uk. The crew removed about 2m2 of the burning insulation.
The area was monitored with a thermal imaging camera to confirm the blaze had not spread.
The spokeswoman for Kelloggsaid the line “had to be shut down for the rest of the day to be repaired but production is back up and running as of today [February 14]”.
Lost production of Elevenses cereal snack bars was estimated at about 10t but would not affect the firm’s ability to fulfil orders, she said.
The incident did not require the evacuation of workers and no other production was affected by the blaze.
Branflakes production line
The first fire took place Saturday February 11, affecting the Branflakes production line.
Three crews, numbering about 18 firemen, were called out at midday to attend a fire on the roof of Kellogg’s facility.
The cause of this fire was thought to be a clogged cyclone dust collection system. The blockage is thought to have caused an electrical motor to overheat starting a small fire. The NWFRS spokeswoman said that about 10% of the extractor unit was damaged.
Staff were evacuated as a precaution but production restarted later that day.
No injuries were reported at either incident, said the spokeswoman.