Alliance Group's Lorneville plant closed after fire in boiler room
Thursday, 30 September 2021
The Alliance Group's Lorneville site is closed after a fire damaged the boiler room in the early hours of Thursday morning, and the company is unsure how processing at the plant will be affected long-term.
Alliance Group general manager manufacturing Willie Wiese said there was a small fire in the area between the ceiling and the roof of the boiler house.
As a result of damage to electrical cables, both boiler units were not operational, which had resulted in no supply of hot water or steam to the plant, he said.
“This means there will be no processing at the plant today. Alliance Group will be diverting any livestock to other plants in our network for processing.’’
**READ MORE:
* Alliance Group invests $16m in warehouse technology at Lorneville
* Alliance looks to tackle issues of labour shortages, absenteeism
* Meat Workers Union and Alliance Group meet to discuss Southland's 'recruitment challenges'
**
It was not known what the effects the fire would have on processing at the plant would be long-term.
The exact cause of the fire is not known at this stage and an investigation by Fire and Emergency New Zealand is underway.
The company had also launched its internal investigation.
A FENZ spokesman said the alarm was raised at 3.29am and fire crews from Wallacetown, Kingswell, two crews from Invercargill and a command unit were sent to the plant, and they fought the fire for more than two hours.
The fire was in the ceiling of the boiler room, and a fire investigator was at the scene on Thursday to determine how it started.
It was not known how extensive the damage was. The FENZ spokesperson said fire crews used all four trucks, but it was ‘’not a total loss.’’