Three buildings lost to fire, but jobs safe at Thames mill

Friday, 13 April 2018

A fire that tore through a Thames mill was caused by a spontaneous combustion of compost as a result of the winds, investigators say.

Fire and Emergency NZ were called to the building and vegetation fire at a mill on Paeroa Kopu Rd in Matatoki at about 9.20pm on Tuesday.

Four fire trucks and about 20 firefighters from Rotorua, Hamilton and Tauraunga were involved in putting out the fire at its height.

On Friday Waikato fire safety officer Ross Fleet said the blaze was the 'result of spontaneous combustion of a compost heap'. 

READ MORE: Fire crews still attempting to put out massive fire at Matatoki near Thames

He said the wind 'fanned through the compost heap' sparking a flame which grew high, with its embers spreading over to a pile of timber. 

'It never would have happened if the storm didn't happen.'

Fleet said it was almost impossible to prevent a fire like what occurred given the winds.

'It's kind of like a log burn fire - the more you blow on it, the more it burns.'

Meanwhile, site owner, and Smart Environmental managing director, Grahame Christian said no jobs had been impacted.

'Given the significance and spread of the fire, we've come out very very lightly,' he said.

He said he is grateful that some of the firefighters who helped to battle the fire were former employees of the site 'so they knew where to go'. 

'They're a real credit.'

Operations at the site would be running as per normal by mid-afternoon Thursday, after being stopped whilst firefighters continued work to extinguish the flames on Wednesday, he said. 

The site's power had been cut off and the private water supply was emptied during the blaze. 

Christian said they will have to continue discussions with their insurers to determine whether the three buildings lost in the blaze would be rebuilt.

He said those discussions would look at if the buildings needed to be rebuilt or relocated elsewhere on the 88-acre site.