Fire crews called to Ruapehu district pulp mill twice in a week

The Karioi Pulpmill, which has been operating since 1978, has had two fire callouts in the past 10 days. Photo / File

The operations manager at the Karioi Pulpmill is praising Ruapehu firefighters for quickly damping down smouldering pulp on the mill's roof during high winds.

Fire and Emergency NZ was called at 10.43am on Sunday, October 17, when pulp from one of the mill's flash dryers was found to be smouldering on the building's roof.

"High winds spread it and caused a lot of little spots where pulp would be smouldering," Stuart Gibson said.

Volunteer crews from Ohakune, Raetihi, Waiouru and Taihape were quickly on the scene. Some of those firefighters are current and former staff at the mill.

"Their response was real quick. It was outstanding," Gibson said.

They used hoses to extinguish the smouldering pulp, and were there for about two and a half hours to make sure the job was fully done.

The building and machinery suffered no significant damage, Gibson said, but it could take days to strip the equipment and dry out everything after the hosing.

A similar fire happened at the mill on Monday, October 11, with fire crews called out.

"We're still investigating all of this to see if we can determine the cause. When we do, we will take corrective action," Gibson said.

The mill and the WPI Timber sawmill at Tangiwai are owned by WPI International, which was purchased by Ernslaw One in 2008. Ernslaw One's website says it is the fourth-largest forest owner in New Zealand.

The businesses have 270 staff in total and are among the largest employers in the Ruapehu district.

The pulp mill employs 116 people, including administrators, Gibson said. It makes more than 220,000 tonnes of air-dried pine pulp each year for export to the Pacific, Australia and Asia.