Big payout brings relief after disastrous blaze

Rose Harding
For Frank and Michael Caccioppoli, a $1.12 million cheque they were handed yesterday means they can plan to get back into business.
The Caccioppolis' Longview packhouse, on the southern outskirts of Hastings, was razed in a huge fire on the morning of Saturday, March 12, just as the apple season was getting into full swing. Among the losses was a new $1 million robot machine for palletising the fruit.
Their insurer, FMG, handed over the cheque yesterday. Frank Caccioppoli said the time since the fire had been difficult but the support from the fruit industry had made the loss easier.
"It's not good but we have been working through it. We have to move on.
"It's gratifying to know that our crop is being packed and our staff employed."
He said the worst part of clearing the site and starting again was the constant noise of the heavy machinery moving the rubbish and demolishing what's left of the building.
The adjoining Caccioppoli family home is still showing the signs of the fire in its melted skylights and downpipes.
A fence between the home and the packhouse was burnt, trees and shrubs are scorched and brown and wiring in the roof unsafe.
Mr Caccioppoli said firefighters were so sure the house would also be engulfed that they advised the family to remove all their belongings.
He said packhouse staff pitched in and helped them clear the house as their jobs went up in flames.
However, now they have some money he and his son Michael, who was the packhouse manager, can start work on the new packhouse.
"We plan to be back in business by the end of November."
Mr Caccioppoli said he was grateful to the insurance company for coming up with money so quickly they could begin to plan for the future.
"We hope to be started in three weeks." The pair of them are travelling to Auckland next week to look at new plant.
FMG insurance service manager James Gerrie, who presented Mr Caccioppoli with the cheque, said the total claim of between $5 million and $6 million could be compared with last year's $8 million for last year's Manawatu floods.
The company's biggest claim was a whopping $100 million from Bay Milk Products after the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake.
Peter Young, the chairman of the Growers' Trust group which has huge coolstores next to the packhouse, said it had been business as usual since the fire as the company sought to assure customers of a ready supply of fruit.
"We had an agreement with Unipac to pack our fruit by 2.15 on Saturday afternoon of the fire.
"We've also had great support from all our suppliers."