A Nestle Purina factory in Sudbury, Suffolk, UK, was damaged in a fire on February 15, 2015. Fifty workers were inside at the time, but no one was injured, according to reports. The fire affected three of the building’s five levels.
The fire involved four 30,000-liter tanks of animal fat, and there was concern that the blaze could spread to another 30,000-liter tank of phosphoric acid nearby.
“The fire had the potential in the early stages to affect the whole factory,” said Carl Francis, area commander for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, in a report. “It started in the tank farm where there is raw soya and animal fat product. Four of the eight tanks were affected but not a tank which had the acid.
“The fire did then break into the building. It is a large commercial building and we were aware that the fire involved flammable product, an oil-based product and pockets of fire were elsewhere in the building.”
Two volunteer firefighters, who also work at the plant, are credited with largely helping to control the fire.
“Their early action saved the fire from developing throughout the building because of their knowledge of the site,” Francis said. “They were able to tell us how to get into and around the building. Within a couple of hours, we were quite confident that we had dealt with the fire and contained it and it was not going to developer further.”
The factory will be closed February 16 while the fire is investigated.
The factory produces petfood brands like Bakers, Winalot, Felix, Bonio and Go-Cat.
