Two fire appliances from Hodnet and Market Drayton fire stations attended the fire at Addo Food Group’s Pork Farms Palethorpes, Market Drayton site on Monday (March 27).
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to the fire in one of Addo’s ovens at 4:07pm. Staff from the factory were already evacuated before the fire crews arrived at the incident.
Fire fighters used four breathing apparatus and water jets to extinguish the flames, with fire fighters leaving the scene by 5:09pm. Nobody was hurt in the fire and the incident will not result in a full fire investigation.
Fire started in an electric motor
Shrewsbury station manager James Bainbridge told FoodManufacture.co.uk that the fire started in an electric motor in a travelling oven, with damage restricted to the unit the motor was in.
“Nobody was hurt, no building damage occurred and the fire was quickly dealt with by our firefighting crews wearing breathing apparatus and using one hose reel jet,” said Bainbridge.
“The travelling oven was subsequently shut down for maintenance and very little production time was lost across the wider production area.”
The fire was relatively small and had a limited effect on production at the factory, according to Bainbridge.
‘Evacuated fully by our arrival’
“The management and staff of the premises were very well practised in their fire procedures, having evacuated fully by our arrival and been on hand throughout with building layout plans and site engineers for advice relating to the affected machinery,” he added.
“It’s a timely reminder for all manufacturing businesses to ensure they’ve considered their actions in the event of a fire and whether they’ve practises sufficiently to react promptly and safely.”
Meanwhile, a blaze that killed about 16,000 chickens in Carlisle sparked a wave of response on social media site Twitter.
Users shared dramatic images of the fire, while others voiced their concerns over the treatment of the chickens. We captured some of the most interesting tweets for you to see.