Drone helps pinpoint source of blaze

FLY BOYS: Senior Station Officer Len Day (right) and Chris Parker from Auckland operate the drone above the destroyed factory on Logan St in Dargaville. PHOTOS/JOHN STONE

Fire investigators are using a drone to help piece together the cause of a large fire that destroyed a Dargaville plastics factory.

The blaze at Robertson Plastic Factory on Tuesday night was not suspicious but possibly the result of an electrical issue, fire investigator Craig Bain said.

"We've eliminated what it's not. It's definitely not suspicious. It's an accident," he said.

Nine fire appliances and more than 60 firefighters responded to the blaze which broke out at about 9.30pm.

While the definite cause of the fire would be identified next week, initial investigations indicated it was "possibly an electrical issue", Mr Bain said.

A number of items had been sent away for analysis.

Yesterday was the first time a drone, which was on loan from Auckland, had been used by the Northland fire service in such a way, Mr Bain said.

While fire investigators had been combing the area since Wednesday, the drone allowed the remnants of the 60m x 80m factory to be seen and filmed from above.

"It's actually a really valuable tool for the investigation," he said. "It gets us up to a height that we'd have to hire a helicopter to do."

The drone will enable investigators to confirm the direction they believe the fire had taken.

Seven houses on River Rd were evacuated on Tuesday because of toxic smoke from the chemicals at the factory. Two houses and a business were dealt a further blow as thieves looted their homes that same night.

Factory owner Noel Robertson had been "very very helpful" when working with investigators to determine the cause of the blaze, Mr Bain said.

"We all agree that he's absolutely devastated".

The long-term impacts of losing the business, which had been in the community for decades, was "huge", Mr Bain said.

A kumara storeroom, coolstore and processing plant beside the factory were saved by fire walls on either end of the building which stopped the spread of the blaze.