Date: March 1, 2023
Location: New Plymouth, Taranaki (New Zealand)
Address: 32 Hudson Road, Bell Block, 4373
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Wood Dust
Industry: Sawmill (Wood and Wood Products)
Equipment: Wood Chip Silo
Company: Taranaki Sawmills
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to its website, Taranaki Sawmills is a sawmill company based in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. It produces and supplies a comprehensive range of structural finger jointed and whole timber products from 100% renewable Radiata Pine forests.
Incident Description:
On March 2, 2023, Stuff reported a series of fires at a sawmill in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
Firefighters were called to the sawmill three times in two days to extinguish a fire in a silo. The initial call was at 10:00 a.m. on March 1 and firefighters remained until 8:00 p.m. Two more visits followed.
According to the Fire and Emergency shift manager, crews were involved in fighting the fire and dampening it down. He said the reason for multiple callouts was the amount of chips in the silo. When they smoulder, the burning parts have to be removed instead of simply flooded.
A spokesperson for the sawmill said the fire was part of a routine burn off in a residual waste silo.
No injuries were reported.
Sources:
Stuff
