One of the Western Bay's largest timber plants was saved from a major fire last night as firefighters praise lucky timing and working sprinkler systems.
Te Puke firefighters were called to the Pukepine and Purepine timber plant on the main road about 11.30pm.
''It came in as an alarm activation at Pukepine Sawmills but when we got there there was actually a fire in the planer machine,'' Te Puke fire chief Glen Williams said.
The small fire had been prevented from spreading further thanks to the plant's sprinkler system. The fire had been smouldering, and left unattended could have easily grown larger and much more destructive, Mr Williams said.
''The sprinkler unit certainly proved its worth.''